Ishitikai
by Saltykumiki
Summary: After their harrowing adventures the group return to normal life; but when the digital world calls them back a unpredictable series of events begins to make Yamato question whether anything from the past can truly be forgotten. Sorato, can be quite disturbing at times. There may be a lemon at the end... Starts off light but gets dark later on. First fic so flames are welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note:

This is a digimon fic which is quite yama-centric, it is an AU set after adventure but before 02. It is a Yamora even though I prefer Yamachi, both relations work really well in my head but Yamora really fits this fic to a T. Maybe I'll get to write a Yamachi in the future. In this fic 02 doesn't exist because though I did like some of the characters I tended to hate the story, however all characters maintain their physical appearance from 02. This is what happens when my mind won't let me rest until I DO something with the ideas in my head. It starts out slow and light hearted but don't let that fool you, it will get very dark later on. It can get quite horrific so I advice those with a weak temperament to avoid this fic. Characters can be a little OOC though I try to avoid it.  
I will be using Japanese names except for Tai and Joe because I like them short.

I'll establish the ages here, if it isn't quite accurate just bear with me.  
Tai, Yamato, Sora, Mimi, Koushirou - 17  
Joe - 18  
Hikari, Takeru - 14

well that's enough rambling from me, on with the fic!

**Ishitikai**

**Chapter one - Underage drinking is wrong, but it happens.**

"This can't end well..."

Yamato sighed, shaking his head as Tai proceeded to chug the _insane_ amount of liver destroying liquid; after accomplishing his goal Tai let out a satisfied sigh and slapped Yamato on the back "Oh come on Yama lighten up, I mean it was _you _who suggested this little shin dig, besides I can handle a looot more then a little community cup!"

"Oh I'm sure you can, you handled it _soooo _well last time." Yamato retorted. Tai merely scoffed and turned back to the circular table they were seated at. He wore a dark blue long sleeved shirt with white writing proclaiming "Tough shoes" and his favourite pair of dark blue trousers. Yamato was sitting beside him on his right wearing a black muscle top which hugged his firm torso snugly and tight denim black jeans held up by a thick blue belt with silver wolf carvings along the sides looking fairly smug with his recent comment. Joe was seated on Tai's left, he wore a simple white T-shirt with light blue cotton trousers and he was fidgeting slightly in his seat as he examined the can of beer in front of him. Mimi sat opposite Tai, she had a lilac dress on with long flowing sleeves that cut off at the shoulders, the fabric looked as light as air and gave her a summery appearance. Her light brown hair was clipped back on either side with heart shaped hair clips preventing her long fringe from failing over her eyes, she was currently giving Joe a half hearted glare. Sora was sitting between Yamato and Mimi wearing a lemon blouse which had cupped sleeves and large ruffles at the front that cascaded down her chest, the blue jeans she wore showed off her generous curves. She was currently occupying her time by chewing on her straw which extended out of a tall glass of liquid that had a slightly green tint to it. In the centre of the table lay a sad looking pile of jenga blocks, each one had a number from one to eight scrawled on its side.

"Taiii you, you knocked it over so you 'hic' you have to build it back up!" Mimi moaned, resting her elbow on the table in order to prop her head up with her hand while her other hand possessively grasped a glass containing a sweet smelling pink liquid. "Those are the rules!" she squealed.

"I told you guys this was a bad idea, drinking jenga is a serious hazard to our health!" Joe moaned, Mimi sneered at him before commenting "If you didn't _cheat _so, so much by sipping on your...your...your drink like a LIGHTWEIGHT you wouldn't be worrying so much!"

Yamato chuckled to himself as Mimi finished her tirade before beginning to aid Tai in the reconstruction of the jenga tower "Mimi's right" he proclaimed with a sly grin, "besides you survived the last time we did this, you definitely faired much better then our _great _leader here."

Tai shot him a deathly glare at that before hissing in response "As I recall, _yama_, you were just as out of it as I was mister..." Tai closed his eyes, tossed his head back and waved an accusing finger back and forth before putting on his best Yamato impersonation voice and continuing "...I have an idea, lets go out on the balcony and set off those fireworks my dad gave me!" Yamato's grin faltered as he winced at the memory...

_"Why is the room spinning?" Tai moaned from his relaxed position on a leather couch in the centre of the living area of Yamato's apartment. He was wearing an orange T-shirt which had 'I don't give a cheesit' scrawled across the front in bold black letters. He had loose blue jeans which looked a bit worse for wear adorning his muscular legs. His feet dangled off of the armrest while he smothered himself with one of the couches two stiff leather pillows in an attempt to force the room to remain stationary. Sora sat on the floor looking slightly exasperated as Mimi "improved" her hair through the use of an obscene amount of hairspray and pink clips. She was dressed in an oversized dark blue wool jumper which slipped off one of her shoulders partially revealing a thin black bra strap. She worn creamy yellow short shorts with slightly frayed edges "You aren't doinganythintoocrazy are ya Mimi?" She slurred as she tried to turn her head to see what her supposedly good friend was doing to her hair._

"_Why Sora I dooooooo believe you are druunnkk, and doontcha trust me?" Mimi playfully snapped throwing her arm against her forehead before leaning back and fluttering her eyelids in a poor attempt at looking outraged at Sora's distrust. She was perched on the only seat on the couch currently unoccupied by Tai with Sora sitting on the floor in front of her. Her light pink blouse had the first two buttons undone revealing a hint of her generous cleavage. Her short, deep pink skirt barely reached halfway down her milky thighs. The knee high socks she wore were a dull shade of white with oversize barbie pink bows at the top on either side._

"_Now Mimi," Joe chimed from his position on the floor beside the couch, he wore a crisp white shirt and deep blue trousers. "We are alll drunk! This is a party right!" He laughed out the last line as he attempted to stand, bracing himself against the couch as he did so._

"_Jeez check out **captain obvious** over here" Mimi giggled before turning her attention back to Sora's hair. Tai, feeling decidedly better now that the room had decided to stop spinning, swung his legs around and gingerly pushed himself off of the couch "Imma gonna go get another beer and find out whats keeping our **host**" He muttered before heading off into the kitchen. Upon entering he noticed Yamato was nowhere in sight so after grabbing a beer from the fridge he stumbled towards Yamato's room, nearly tripping on Sora in the process. His head began to spin slightly as he shoved open the door before ducking swiftly as a pair of old shoes flew towards his face._

"_Hey watch it Yama! What the hell are you doing anyway?" Tai glanced around the room, he noticed Takeru sitting on the edge of Yamato's bed sniggering slightly. He was adorned in a light green T-shirt with dark green rims, his khaki shorts reached just past his knees revealing his tanned calves. Tai looked over to see what Takeru found so hilarious, he was rewarded for his efforts with the site of Yamato's back as he haphazardly tossed various objects over his shoulder as he searched through the closet on the far side of the room. "Whatcha looking for?" after a few seconds passed with no response Tai turned to Takeru "What's he looking for?"_

_Takeru lolled his head towards Tai before replying "He was insisting he was perfectly capable of playing his harmonica when I stated he is in no state to do so, so he decided to prove it to me. Only he can't find it."_

"_Ahh I see, but isn't that it sticking out of his back pocket?" Tai observed._

"_SHHHHHHH! I want him to figure it out on his own!" Takeru whispered frantically, luckily for him Yamato didn't seem to hear them as he pulled a large rectangular box out from the mess he had created. "I had totally forgotten about these!" he exclaimed as he stood up, still holding the mysterious box. He spun around and nearly fell on top of Takeru before steadying himself, his chest muscles flexed beneath his black turtle neck as he did so. The deep black jeans he worn fit him perfectly, complimenting his hips nicely. A thick silver skull served as the buckle for his blood red belt._

"_Woah there Nii-chan you almost crushed me." Takeru jeered with poorly concealed mirth. Tai eyed the box suspiciously from his position in the doorway, he grinned when Yamato held the box up for inspection._

"_Boy's we have a REAL party now" Yamato announced causing Takeru's smile to gradually decrease before fading completely. Tai rubbed his hands together before letting out a sinister sounding laugh as Yamato strolled past him into the living room._

"_Guys I just found the means to make this night the most memorable one yet! Let's go and...!" Yamato stopped speaking abruptly when his eyes fell on Sora. Everyone in the living room including her gazed at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. He swallowed hard as he stared at her head; her reddish locks of hair had been piled up on her head and bared a striking resemblance to a wasps nest. The various pink clips poked out of the mess at odd angles caused him to wonder how they were holding the thing up at all._

"_You ok?" she queried from her position on the floor. After overcoming the initial shock he and Tai, who had come to stand beside him and was also currently fixated on Sora's predicament, turned their heads slowly toward one another. As soon as crystal blue orbs meet chocolate brown ones both boy's burst out in rapturous laughter; Tai clasped his stomach while Yamato tried to stop himself by covering his mouth with one hand. Sora blinked a few times before catching on to the reason for their outburst. She slowly got up from the floor before clenching her hands into tight fists and spinning around sharply to face Mimi. Upon getting a full view of the back of the issue Tai and Yamato laughed even harder and began to struggle to stay on their feet._

"_Mimi..." Sora began through clenched teeth. Mimi looked up at her innocently, tilting her pink cowboy hat back and crossing her legs. The motion caused her skirt to ride up slightly, revealing even more of her shapely pearly white thighs. Joe's face went through six shades of red before settling on tomato as he redirected his gaze to fall anywhere but **there**. Luckily for him no one seemed to notice as Sora continued _"_...WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!" Sora's tone remained even and threatening but Mimi was still unfazed. Tai and Yamato continued to snigger behind her back which only caused her to grind her teeth together. "FIX IT!" she almost yelled. To her surprise Mimi swiftly stood up, grabbing the brush that had been lying beside her simultaneously as she did so._

"_I was just having a little fun." She huffed as she proceeded to whip Sora around and in a whirl of pink clips, hair pulling and Sora's various exclamations of "OUCH!" and "EKK!" managed to produce a neat high topped bun. A thick lock of hair fell across the left half of Sora's face in a light curl, complementing her heart shaped face whilst drawing attention to her reddish/brown eyes. All the males feel silent after witnessing Mimi's amazing feat. Yamato couldn't pull his eyes away from Sora's face, his heart almost skipped a beat at the transformation and before he could stop himself he began examining her features, from her large oval eyes to her slightly moist, delicately pink lips which seemed to shine in the soft light of the room. She broke out in a soft pink blush when she noticed his mesmerised stare and he responded in turn. This happened in the space of a minute, then the short silence was broken when a wide eyed Takeru spoke in a tone so quiet it was almost a whisper_

"_Mimi...are you magic?"_

_Everyone slowly turned to T.K and promptly erupted in laughter. Mimi wiped a tear from her light brown eye before casting Yamato a sideways glance and asking "So what's in the box?"_

_Yamato took a few deep breaths to stop himself from laughing some more before looking back to the box in his hands as if it were some sort of foreign entity, recognition slowly dawned as he remembered what he had been trying to do before he had spotted Sora. An evil smirk quickly spread across his face, he made sure he had everyone's full attention before opening the box revealing its rather dangerous contents. Joe turned a deathly shade of white, Mimi raised both of her hands to her mouth to stifle a giggle and Sora raised one eyebrow incredulously._

"_Well guys I do believe we have a balcony." Yamato drawled as he strolled past his captive audience towards the glass doors separating him from his goal. He slide the door open with his right hand while cradling the box with his left. "Care to join me?"_

"_Nii-chan I think this is a very bad idea." Takeru stated._

"_Listen to him Yamato you could seriously hurt yourself!" Joe added. Sora, Mimi and Tai exchanged a look before following Yamato out onto the balcony, he had already managed to prop half of the objects in question against the railings. He lit the first one using matches he had found in the box despite various protests from Joe and Takeru, before scampering back to join the group in the doorway. The fuse disintegrated quickly causing the firework to shoot out narrowly missing a building but managing to climb high into the air before exploding with an ear popping bang, producing bright green flashes in the sky. Everyone let out a collective gasp as it did so, before cheering at their success. "Did you see that? It almost hit the building!" Joe groaned._

"_Come on Joe live a little! Yama give me a match it's my turn." Tai exclaimed. Yamato shrugged before tossing him the matchbox. Tai placed the second firework in the same place Yamato had set the first one off. He lit the fuse less carefully then Yamato had, once it was lit he turned to run back to the group only to trip on the box as he did so. In mid fall his foot slipped trying to gain purchase on the slippery wooden surface of the floor causing it to nudge the precariously placed firework. From his position on the floor his eyes widened in shock as the firework rolled towards him, the menacing looking tip was aimed directly at his side._

"_TAI!" Yamato yelled. Pure instinct took over as he ran forward, jumping over Tai and kicking the firework off the balcony just as the fuse finished its bleak course. Mimi screamed as they all hit the deck when the firework shot past them through the open door into the apartment, it deflected off the living room wall, zipping through the hallway past the two bedrooms before deflecting off of the ceiling in the bathroom and landing in the toilet. No one spoke as they exchanged worried looks and waited for the unavoidable blast. When nothing happened they slowly got to their feet and cautiously entered the apartment. They silently made their way to the bathroom with Tai and Yamato in the lead, at the door Tai opened it carefully and popped his head inside._

"_Huh...water must have defused it." He breathed._

_Everyone let out a relieved sigh. Mimi leaned on Joe who was shaking, Takeru sank to his knees taking calming breaths, Sora shook her head before plopping on the floor, Tai turned to Yamato before wiping the visible sweat from his forehead as Yamato braced his back against the wall._

"_My god Tai, I'm as stupid as you are." Yamato let out shakily with a small smile._

"_Hey, I would say thanks for saving me but since this was your idea I think I should hit you instead." Tai responded with a small smile of his own, before his face turned an abrupt shade of green. He jumped to the toilet barely managing to spill the contents of his stomach into it. Yamato examined everyone's exhausted looking facing before doubling over in laughter, Sora let out a small laugh of her own and Takeru soon joined her. Mimi laughed into Joes shoulder has he let out a small laugh before announcing "I think that's enough for one day."_

"...Yeah that was quite a day, we were really lucky." Yamato sighed as he stretched out. Tai stared at the newly stacked jenga tower he and Yamato had just finished creating before creasing his brow in concentration.

"I remember Hikari wasn't there because she was helping her friend finish a paper, but why wasn't Koushirou there?"

Everyone paused for a moment to consider the question, except for Sora who continued chewing on her straw.

"I don't know lets ask him when he wakes up." Yamato announced remembering how Koushirou had went to "rest his eyes" on the couch after repeatedly getting rule number four (take a shot) and finishing a FULL glass of whiskey. Mimi nodded her head sagely in agreement; Yamato chose this moment to go check on Takeru and Hikari who had declined to join them for the game, preferring to play 'cards' together in his room instead. Yamato didn't believe this farce for a second so he braced himself before knocking on the door, he felt quite perturbed that he actually had had to knock to gain access to his own room. After a lot of rustling and a loud thump a pair of eyes peered at him from the thin slit in the door, after they had widened in recognition the door flew open to reveal Takeru.

_"Good he's still fully clothed." _Yamato mentally breathed when he cast a glance over his brother, his forest green tank top had ridden up slightly but his khaki green trousers that were riddled with various zippers and pockets were still firmly in place. Yamato leaned over Takeru's shoulder to peek into the room, he spotted Hikari sitting stiffly at the end of the bed, her auburn locks looked slightly ruffled and her chest rose and fell in poorly stifled deep breaths. The tags she always worn clunk together softly with each breath and Yamato couldn't help but notice her deep maroon tank top was on backwards. The loose mahogany quarter length trousers she wore were held in place by a delicate rosy belt which had, to Yamato's slight alarm, been taken out of its first loop.

"Hmmmm..." he stooped closer to Takeru's neck with a contemplative look plastered across his cool features. "I spy with my little eye..." Takeru immediately clasped a hand over the newly blooming bruise on his neck as his face turned to a shade of crimson, Hikari also blushed profusely before turning her head away and chewing on her cheek in embarrassment.

"Well you kids have fun..." Yamato gushed as he patted Takeru's shoulder and turned to make his exit "...just remember this is my room and Tai and I are only a door away." he warned lightly before heading back to the game, upon entering the kitchen he watched as the group held their breath in anticipation as Joe's quivering hand attempted to extract a particularly difficult looking jenga block. He swiftly pulled it out with a girlish "Eeeee"; the tower wobbled profusely but did not fall. He breathed a sigh of relief before reading out the number "It's a three; I get to pick three people to drink! Let's see…I guess Yamato and Tai are a given…" He slowly turned his head to face Mimi, she was looking at him in eager anticipation. He looked over at Sora who was _still_ chewing on her straw with a far off look in her eyes. "_Mimi is really drunk but Sora is even worse off…no choice I suppose." _He concluded.

"…I'll be the third." Mimi scoffed but said nothing more, Tai and Yamato proceeded to chug their respective beers; finishing them almost simultaneously. Joe took a little longer but managed to finish his in one go.

Yamato had returned to his seat with three new beer bottles to replace the recently decimated ones. He grabbed a bottle opener and, holding all three in one hand, opened them and handed one to Tai and Joe. He held the cool beer with both hands, enjoying the feeling of the condensation against his skin. Even though it was fairly late in the evening the heat from the warm summer day had yet to dissipate, causing the apartment to become muggy and the air to feel thick. He began calmly peeling the label off his bottle, staring into the thick brown glass to observe the carbonated bubbles rise to the surface in steady streams.

"Yamaaa, earth to Yama!" He shot his head up as Tai waved a hand in front of his face.

"We think its time to call it quits, Mimi has ceased to function and Sora won't respond to standard stimulus." Tai sighed.

Yamato looked around the table noticing Mimi had passed out and Sora _continued _to chew on what once was her straw. Joe was trying to revive Mimi by gently shaking her shoulder, for a while nothing happened but just as Joe was about to give up her eyes shot open. "Time to go Mimi" Joe smiled at her; she gave him a blank look before nodding her head in agreement. "I'll take her home guys." Joe stated as he helped her up and out of the room.

"Well Koushirou can stay the night I suppose, my dad won't mind since he won't be back tonight and he _has_ already claimed the couch." Yamato mused. He cocked his head towards Sora who had _finally _stopped chewing her straw to look at him. "_Damn_, _why the hell is she looking at me like that? It's almost like she knows."_His eyes took in the soft look of her lips that were pursed into an almost seductive smile; they followed the delicate curve of her cheek before coming to a stop as his eyes locked onto hers, for that split second he could almost swear she wanted him as much as he wanted her. The moment was broken as quickly as it began as she rose from the table, almost breaking into a run as she spun around to exit the kitchen. He could only sit there feeling as though his heart would burst; every pore in his body screamed at him to go after her, to act on these desires because it was what he wanted and for the first time he could let himself believe she just might want it to. Instead he was all to aware of Tai sitting beside him, an unreadable expression on his face as he too rose from the table.

"Listen Yama I'm going to take Sora and Hikari home, if Koushirou is staying you don't have enough room for all of us right?" Yamato opened his mouth to protest but Tai cut him off. "I'll be fine, we will get a cab. See you tomorrow ok? Hopefully Koushirou's hangover won't stop him from showing us that surprise he couldn't stop going on about!" Tai laughed as he exited.

"Alright then, just be careful when you get Hikari!" Yamato yelled after him. "_That's right Koushirou promised a surprise, I wonder what he has in mind." _ He mused as he closed his eyes, turning his attention back to the way Sora had looked at him and what it could mean. The thought brought an unconscious smile to his lips as it seemed his situation was not as hopeless as it had once appeared.


	2. Unacceptable return

Authors note:

I can't believe I got a review, thanks so much! I hadn't really thought about Mimi's pairing, I was just letting the relationships fall into place but now that you have given me the idea I think I'm going to run with it. The main focus is still Sorato but other pairings will be mentioned. This chapter short but provides the setup, next one will be longer. Characters (especially Joe) may be a little OOC though I try to avoid it hehe…

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Chapter 2: Unacceptable return

"Koushirou we're waiting, can't you cut the suspense already?" Tai mumbled as he tried to peer over Koushirou's shoulder to find out what he was trying to accomplish by typing so furiously on Yamato's computer.

"Tai I'm sure the only one left in suspense is _you_, everyone else has already figured out what I'm doing." Koushirou replied without averting his gaze from his task. Everyone had come back to Yamato's apartment since Koushirou had stayed the night to find out what he had planned and were currently fidgeting in anticipation.

"That's not true!" Tai retorted, "I have figured it out that's why you should hurry up, we can't wait anymore!" He threw his hands up in exasperation when Koushirou made no effort to appease him further.

Yamato couldn't blame Tai for pushing him. After all they had been waiting for this day ever since they left the digital world! That's the only thing that could be the surprise, I mean they were in his apartment and all Koushirou had on him was his laptop. Yamato thumbed his harmonica impatiently; he cast Sora an excited glance to see if she shared his assumptions. He was rewarded for his efforts with a smile which could make grown men cry and suddenly all he wanted to do was to reach across the short distance between them and take her hand in his, but that short expanse felt like it extended for miles and despite his desires he still couldn't find the courage to tell her. "_No words are good enough, god when did this happen? I can't stop thinking about her. Here I am about to be reunited with Gabumon and all I can think about is how freaking good she looks in those jeans! When did I lose all semblances I had of keeping to myself? How did she destroy all my guards without even __**trying?" **_All these thoughts crashed around his mind but his expression remained unchanged.

"Ha!" Koushirou exclaimed breaking Yamatos reverie and bringing his concentration back to the matter at hand.

"Ok, as most of you know for a while now I have been trying to re-establish connections with the digital world. For the longest time nothing worked, all my attempts to reconnect failed miserably." Koushirou's paused; his features betrayed his frustration at this fact before he continued, "Two days ago I received an encrypted email, it took me a full day to decipher it. I could hardly believe what it was when I had finished, it contained instructions on exactly how to reconnect with the digital world!"

"Who was it from, Gennai? And why did you wait to tell us? Don't tell me you wanted to surprise us." Joe interrupted, pushing his glasses further the bridge of his nose as he did so.

"No, I actually was unable to trace its origins. All I was able to establish is that it was sent from the digital world. I decided to wait till today because we had already made plans for last night and I knew everyone would want to go right away. But even though I have followed the instructions to the best of my ability I still have no guarantee that it will work, I guess I didn't want to get everyone's hopes too high…" Koushirou responded with a trace of sadness. Mimi shot Joe a deathly glare before throwing her arms around Koushirou's torso and resting her head on his shoulder, rendering him speechless. A thick blush crawled up his neck before settling in on his cheeks, she pulled back and turned him to face her. "You should have more faith in yourself! If it weren't for you we wouldn't even have a chance at getting back to the digital world, even if it doesn't work no one would blame you!" Mimi gushed. She smiled broadly before realising what she had done. She quickly let go of her hold on his shoulders and turned away from him, her face tinged slightly pink. Yamato, Tai, Sora, Takeru and Hikari smiled knowingly. Joe looked like a deer caught in the headlights, his jaw hung open before he snapped it shut with an audible *chomp*.

"She's right though Koushirou, no matter how it turns out we all appreciate your efforts." Yamato stated warmly, the group nodded their agreement. Koushirou rubbed the back of his head happily before turning his attention back to the screen. "Thanks guys. Tai, bring your digivice over here, you should do the honours."

"Sure thing Koushi, okay everybody ready?"

"Yeah!" everyone responded in unison, they all looked determined and ready for anything. Yamato could feel his heart in his mouth as Tai extended his arm, "DIGIPORT OPEN!" Tai roared. The bright light they had all been hoping for showered them, Yamato could almost cry for joy as the familiar feeling spread through his entire body, the strange tingling sensation of being transformed into data had never felt so good. Once it was over he slowly opened his eyes, expecting that unnatural blue sky to welcome his return. But instead of blue the sky was overcast with billowing grey clouds. The ground beneath his feet, once the raw colour of dirt and sparse vegetation was a cold grey. He shared a worry ridden look with Sora before turning to Tai. They seemed to have landed in a ditch because a sharp ridge prevented them from examining the horizon. Tai said nothing as he began to climb, Yamato quickly followed along with the others. As they passed the ridge he felt as though the blood in his veins had been replaced with ice, he could fell a cold bead of sweat roll down his face as his expression hardened. Hikari was last to scale the ridge, her expression was one of pure shock and despair as she shakily turned to her brother, slipping her hand into his. "Tai…what happened?"

"I don't know, but we sure as hell are going to find out." Tai's voice was thick with resolve and his hand curled into a fist around hers. The scene before them was nothing like the digital world they once knew. It was devoid of colour; even the light seemed dull and dark. The once lush forests lay in ruin; black flames licked the once fertile countryside, it seemed to swallow any living thing in its path. Yamato swallowed hard as realisation hit, no digimon could have survived whatever the hell those flames were. Sora grasped his arm from behind but he could find no happiness in the development. They had to find their digimon. NOW.


	3. Unwanted meeting

Authors note: Thanks for the reviews people it really gives me the motivation to continue! A bit of swearing in this one so please excuse my potty mouth. Hope it lives up to expectations.

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Chapter three: Unwanted meeting.

"It's no use; I can't contact Gennai at all. Hopefully he will anticipate us coming in order to let us in." Koushirou explained, closing his laptop in defeat. The group had decided to find Gennai's home because it seemed the most logical choice in light of their circumstances. Luckily, despite the drastic change in scenery, Koushirou and Tai had a bearing on their surroundings and knew Gennai's place shouldn't be too far from their current location. In fact Koushirou had estimated it should take them less then a day to get there.

Yamato paused to exam the path they were following; the ground itself seemed safe enough but each object they had passed, be it a tree or a rock, had turned as black as coal. They had all agreed not to touch anything just in case the odd black coating was harmful. They had almost reached their destination and had yet to come across a single digimon, friend or foe. This wasn't helping the morale of the group and the atmosphere was extremely tense, no-one asked to stop or slowed their pace. All were anxious to reach their destination, hoping against hope that whatever had happened to the rest of this world hadn't affected the heavily guarded place which could very well be serving as the last refuge for their digimon.

"There!" Tai exclaimed, gesturing towards a light shinning brightly just ahead. They broke into a run, excitement cleanly displayed on all their faces. As if to reward their enthusiasm the familiar lake came into view. As they approached they could see it remained unharmed, its clear blue surface untainted by the bleak surroundings.

"It's undamaged!" Joe, resident captain obvious, shouted.

"Koushirou, try and contact Gennai now. Maybe you can get through if we are this close." Tai asked.

"Already on it!" He replied. The group waited with bated breath as he typed away. "Yes! He said he's letting us in, he'll explain the situation inside!" As if on cue the water parted revealing the steep steps they had been hoping to see.

"Alright guys lets go!" Tai yelled as he sprinted down the steps, taking them two at a time. Yamato made to follow him, anticipation coursing through his veins. Suddenly he felt as though he had spontaneously combusted, electricity flowed through him crackling around his form. With a surprised yelp of pain he was thrown back, smashing into Takeru who tumbled backwards from the sudden weight. Takeru quickly bounced up; he helped Yamato up into a sitting position, supporting him against his upraised knee. "_What the hell was that? It felt like I was on fire." _Yamato thought before letting out a groan, accepting Takeru's help whilst supporting himself on his elbows. "Nii-chan! Geez are you ok? what happened?" Takeru spouted.

"Are you alright?" He turned to see Sora, worry written plainly on her features. She was kneeling beside him and placed her hand on his forehead; her features softened as he smiled weakly at her, taking her hand off and placing it against his chest. "I'm fine, no idea what that was though, but it isn't affecting me anymore." He reassured her; she blushed slightly as he squeezed her hand. "And sorry T.K but I have absolutely no idea what just happened." He answered. Joe knelt on his other side and checked his vitals, making sure there was no lasting damage. Hikari, Mimi and Koushirou breathed a sigh of relief as Tai's head reappeared at the top of the stairs. "What's the holdup?" He asked before he spotted Yamato on the floor, he rushed over all the while demanding to know what happened.

"No clue Tai, I tried to follow you down and then I was here on the floor. Something threw me back." He explained.

Tai gave him a look before grinning, extending his hand and saying "Decided to take a little nap then? No can do I need you to watch my back."

Yamato grinned back at Tai before grasping his hand and pulling himself up. "Yeah what would you do without me?" He laughed.

Meanwhile Koushirou was using his laptop to scan the steps; he looked slightly puzzled as he informed them of his findings. "The readings show there is a powerful barrier set up; it seems to encompass the whole lake. It must be what is preventing the lake to succumb to its surroundings but I see no reason why it should have rejected Yamato since it gave no resistance to Tai, just in case I think we should each extend our hand over the steps to see if anyone else has the same response." He extended his own hand to illustrate his point, bracing himself in case something similar occurred. When nothing happened the others began to try. First Takeru, then Hikari and Mimi; still no reactions took place. Sora extended her hand, only to pull it back in surprise as her fingers sizzled in response. Yamato frowned; he grabbed her hand to examine it.

"Its fine, it only hurt a little, like a static shock." She informed him. He shifted his gaze from hers as he asked, "Really? You absolutely sure? It didn't feel like…you were burning from the inside?" He said the last part in a barely audible whisper. He hadn't wanted her or the others to know exactly how bad it had felt but he had to be sure she wasn't hurt the same way. The small gasp she let out answered his question, she was telling the truth.

During this exchange Joe had taken his turn and come up clean. Tai frowned and turned to face Yamato. "We have no choice; you and Sora are going to have to stay here. We need to see Gennai and find out what's going on. Who else wants to stay behind?" He announced. Takeru stepped up "If Nii-chan is staying so am I."

"And I'm staying with T.K." Hikari added.

"We can't let Tai go alone though. Mimi, Joe and I should accompany him." Koushirou decided.

"Ok if anything should happen send Hikari or T.K down to get us right away, if you have to run try to get back to the digiport and go back home, without digimon you are kinda sitting ducks out here." Tai ordered. Yamato, Sora, Takeru and Hikari nodded in confirmation. Tai smiled before turning to descend the steps, his confirmed party hot on his heels. Yamato waved hoping that their digimon were down there and the next time he saw Tai he would have some answers.

* * *

"Wow it's just as pretty as I remember! Look at those fish, they are so pretty!" Mimi gushed as she daintily descended the steps beside Koushirou. Tai hurried on ahead, Gennai's stately home soon came into view and to his joy so did Koromon, bounding towards him as fast as he could hop.

"Tai! I missed you!" He proclaimed as he jumped into Tai's arms; soon all the digimon came into view, happily hugging their respective partners except for Yokomon, Tokomon, Salamon and Tsunomon who waited impatiently to ask about their absent partners. Tai told them they were fine and just at the top of the stairs; though for the moment he left out the reason, not wanting to worry them just yet.

"Ah children welcome! Unfortunately greetings will have to be cut short I must tell you about what's been happening. Where are the rest of your group?" Gennai greeted, looking around anxiously when he saw how few of them were present.

"They had to stay up top, the barrier around this place rejected Yamato and Sora for some reason." Koushirou answered.

"That's odd it shouldn't have done that…" Gennai mused. "I can't leave this place so I am afraid all I can offer you is what little information I possess. Please come in I'll prepare some tea."

"That's ok, please just let us know what's going on; I want to return to the others as soon as possible." Tai pestered.

Gennai nodded and began "Well it happened very gradually after you all left, small localised sections of the digital world simply stopped responding. Every place I investigated showed the same results, the ground had the entire colour drained away in very small areas. For a long time I could find no cause, until about a month ago when I came across a whole digi village which was being consumed by black flames, no matter what kind of water or move the digimon tried the flames wouldn't be extinguished, they spread so quickly I barely made it back here in one piece. I couldn't see what happened to the digimon that followed me because when I looked back all I could see was darkness. All I could do was wait inside until whatever it was had passed over, when I resurfaced I was greeted with the same sight as you all. I began conducting an investigation into the black flames, according to my findings they seem to spring up from underground with no identifiable trigger."

When he made no move to continue Tai spoke up. "That's it? That's all you know? You make it sound like a natural occurrence!"

"No, it is definitely not natural. There is someone behind it." Gennai snapped.

"How do you know?" Koushirou asked.

"Because during my investigation I encountered him…and he asked me how to find all of you." Gennai stated; his normally friendly features stiffened at the memory…

"_So you are Gennai, so nice of you to come to me it has been so troubling trying to locate you." The thing standing before Gennai stated with an air of confidence. The thing was surrounded with what appeared to be solid black material; it covered its whole body obscuring its figure. "So you are behind this, what have you done? What reason do you have to destroy innocent digimon? Why are you looking for me?" Gennai asked. The creature scoffed before responding "The once all knowing 'answer man' has nothing but questions now. I suppose that can't be helped. Listen, I have only one need of you. Some children came to this world once in the past; I need you to bring them back." _

_Gennai remained calm and collected. Taking a step back he replied. "I have nothing to tell you, those children are safe. You will never be able to get them back here, the portals are sealed!" _

_The thing said nothing; suddenly it shed the solid mass that had been surrounding its body. Gennai's eyes widened in surprise as he realised the thing which stood before him was no thing at all, despite the cracked black traditional play mask it wore it was undeniably __**human.**_ _The man stood tall dressed in a demure black suit; the deep red dress shirt he wore was the only colour visible on his person. In the blink of an eye the man's mask covered face was inches away from his own, the contorted smiling features of the mask stirred a long forgotten emotion in him. Fear. _

"_The portals are sealed? Then how do you explain me. I have returned to earth many times but try as I might the children remain elusive. They are hardly children anymore though are they?" He straightened slowly and turned to walk away. "I have no need for an answer man with no answers, if you do find them before me I expect you to deliver. You are grateful right? I am being generous here…you're still in one piece." As the man spoke these final words he disappeared from Gennai's sight. _

As Gennai finished explaining his encounter the group exchanged stunned looks. A person. A person was looking for them. A person had done this. How? These questions plagued them all without being spoken aloud. Koushirou looked thoughtful for a moment before asking "Wait, you didn't send me that message?"

Gennai turned swiftly toward Koushirou before answering. "Message? In my haste I forgot to ask, how did you get here?"

"I decoded a message from the digital world; I assumed it was from you." Koushirou replied; worry spread across his face as he spoke.

Gennai's features turned stern as he spoke, he did not raise his voice but his tone was urgent. "Go now! Return to your friends, take your digimon and get out of the digital world! I didn't send you anything so that only leaves one possibility! That man is strong, I do not know if your digimon can stand against him even if they evolve, go back! I do not know what he wants from you but he can't find you, the only trump we have against him is that he doesn't know who you are or where in the world you come from!"

Tai nodded, scooping up Salamon and Koromon as he did so. "We should go now, the others are in danger!" Tai yelled, sprinting toward the steps. Before He could begin his descent he almost collided with Hikari.

"Tai!" she yelled, "Help us! They need our help!" she grabbed his shoulders and shook him as she spoke. He noticed that she had blood trickling down her terrified face from a large gash in her temple, his expression changed from surprise to angry determination as he took in the rest of her. Her clothes were covered in dust; she had visible scratches and a large bruise on her left arm. Anger clouded his vision as he didn't even pause to hear her explanation, instead choosing to run up the stairs as fast as he could; Koromon was enveloped in a bright light as he somehow managed to run beside Tai as he went through his evolutionary stages. "_Wait for me Sora, Yamato, Takeru! I'm on my way, don't do anything stupid and for the love of god __**don't die!**__"_

* * *

"Well what should we do while we wait?" Hikari asked pleasantly. She sat on the ground beside Takeru, leaning her head on his shoulder. All four of them sat in a circle; Sora absentmindedly traced images in the dirt with her finger while Yamato rested his arm on his propped up knee. Tai and the others had been gone for awhile, and Yamato couldn't help but feel impatient. Being rejected by the barrier had rattled him, he wanted answers. "_Why only Sora and I? What do we have in common?" _he bit his thumb as he watched her draw images while he tried to figure it out. She caught him staring at her and stopped abruptly. A small smile lit up her features and Yamato found all his musings immediately forgotten as he tried to read her thoughts by staring into her eyes. "_Why? Is it egotistical of me to think I'm the only one she smiles like that for? I've never seen her show this face to anyone else…man I'm hopeless." _He let out a small mirthless laugh as he closed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to expel the thoughts from his mind. Hikari and Takeru had been discussing options whilst he had been trying to decipher Sora's expression; he turned to them and observed their exchanges. "_Heh T.K has it all figured out, apparently he's more of a man then I am. He had no trouble just telling her and here I am in a similar situation and simply can't say a word. How pathetic." _

"You okay?" Sora interrupted his thoughts, he realised his normally stoic expression must have changed to mirror his current turbulent emotions.

"I'm fine, just thinking that's all. No need to wor-" He cut himself off as his back stiffened. Something isn't right here, before the wind had been blowing softly letting off a cool rushing sound through the surrounding black trees; now he could hear no sounds. He slowly got to his feet, the others seemed to realise it too as they all rose into a standing position. Hikari trembled "It's cold…it's cold." She repeated, she began to tremble with more force and hugged herself in an attempt to stop it.

"Oh dear the little miss seems to be having a _very_ bad reaction to my presence. That's. A. Shame." The voice drifted towards them from the path they had followed to get here. The man made no attempt to hide himself; he merely walked out in front of them as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Who the hell are you?" Yamato demanded. _"What the hell is with that mask? It's creepy as fuck." _He internally observed. The man cocked his head at him, the fake mirth the mask displayed made unease billow from Yamato's very core.

"Me? I'm your escort; won't you all come with me? Let's go somewhere we can _chat._" The man replied effortlessly.

"No don't come near us!" Hikari screamed. The tremors that had been shaking her body seemed to get more violent each step he took toward them. Takeru looked at her with concern but before he could comfort her the man had somehow simply _appeared_ behind her. With no hesitation whatsoever the man smacked her on the side of the head, sending her skidding across the ground.

"HIKARI! YOU BASTARD!" Takeru yelled as he ran toward her, before he could reach her the man stood in his path. "With a reaction like that she certainly isn't the one I'm looking for, are you?" The man seemed slightly bored as he asked the question. Hikari shakily got to her feet; while this was happening Sora and Yamato had gotten over their initial shock and were by her side.

"Listen Hikari are you ok?" Yamato queried. She gave a shaky nod as her response. "Good, go and get Tai and the others. He doesn't seem to want you and from what I can see at this particular moment that is a very bad thing. Though I am sure in the future it will turn out to be a very _good_ thing." Yamato instructed in a hushed voice as he and Sora helped her up.

"But what about T.K and you guys? I can't just leave you!" She moaned. Her mouth felt suddenly dry as she spoke

"Yes you can." Sora confirmed; she smiled at her before continuing "We need help and you are the only one who can get it."

Hikari cast a worried glance toward T.K who seemed to be yelling his head off at the unresponsive man before him who was currently examining his nails. She grit her teeth before sprinting down the stairs and into the lake. The man stopped examining his hand and spoke as soon as she was out of view, causing Takeru to stop his tirade.

"Hmmmm, some of you can't go in you say? Sounds like a perfect B. I. N. G. O. to me." He chortled before extending his hand palm facing forward toward Takeru, Takeru blinked in surprise at the sudden movement before he was flung back toward the stairs. He landed with an audible THUD. "T.K!" Yamato screamed. He wanted to run to his brother's side but because he had landed inside the barrier he knew it was impossible. He chose instead to stand in front of Sora, shielding her as the man turned towards them. "_I didn't even see him flex his hand when he threw T.K, is he even human? What the hell can I do? Damn it I'm so fucking __**powerless**__!" _

"One down two to go, who wants to be next?" The man spoke in a sing-song voice. Suddenly he wasn't in front of them and Yamato blinked before he felt Sora being lifted off her feet behind him. "Put her down!" He bellowed. The man shrugged and threw her into the barrier.

"NO!" Yamato shouted as he did so. She gasped as a small electric current coursed through her before she dropped to the ground, falling to her knees. She took a few deep breaths before rising shakily to her feet.

"Huh, that wasn't much of a reaction. But I guess she's the one; so little lady would you mind accompanying me?" The man said this as he disappeared from his position in front of Yamato and knelt before her, holding out his hand in a seemingly friendly gesture.

"HEY!" Yamato spoke harshly as the man propped a kicking and cursing Sora onto his shoulders. "Shouldn't you cover all your bases? What if she isn't the one you're looking for?" Yamato baited. He had to get him to put her down, no matter what it took. He couldn't stop him. He couldn't lift a finger against him. But he would be _damned_ if he couldn't bloody stall him before Tai returned with what was hopefully the cavalry. The man seemed to take the bait, hesitating for a moment before walking slowly toward him.

"No! You bastard! Put. Me. The. Fuck. Down. You. Asshole!" Sora fumed. If the situation weren't so dire Yamato would have found her use of profanity quite funny since it was so out of character. But unfortunately that was not the case. The man was now standing directly in front of Yamato; he said nothing as he grabbed him by the throat. Yamato grabbed at the man's fingers helplessly, kicking the air in an attempt to get free.

"So eager for a turn are we? Well I am happy to oblige." The man stated; amusement laced each word. He held Yamato toward the stairs, stopping for a split second before plunging him forward.

Burning. From the inside out. The intense sensation forced its way through Yamato's body, causing him to convulse and jerk. Sparks flew around as the man tossed his head back and laughed. "You were right; I wouldn't have wanted to miss this! It seems I have two for the price of one!" The man yelled as he continued to laugh. Sora screamed out Yamato's name in protest, she couldn't see him from her position on the man's shoulders but she could see the sparks.

Yamato couldn't hear either of them. All he could feel was the terrible sensation. He could faintly feel blood bubbling up in the back of his throat but even that seemed to be a distant concern. He knew nothing. Could think of nothing. He did the only thing he could.

He screamed, as loudly and for as long as his lungs would let him.


	4. Small wins

Authors note: Sorry for the late…or is it early uploads I'm a bit of a night owl. Hoot. Um…I forgot to do this before so I'll put it here.

I don't own digimon; if I did 02 would have been veeerrry different.

* * *

Chapter 4: Small wins

It felt like he had been running for an eternity. Though he flew at his top speed, which was fairly fast considering his athletic build, he still felt like he was running through water. Agumon ran just behind him making a valiant effort at keeping up with his speedier partner. Tai kept his gaze set for straight ahead, not even pausing to see how close behind his friends were. Takeru's form soon came into his line of sight so he pushed himself to go even faster. Takeru was struggling to get to his feet between laboured breaths; He held his right side with both hands. As Tai approached he could hear Takeru hiss as he applied some pressure to the injured area.

"T.K! You ok? What's happening up there?" Tai asked. He stopped Takeru from standing by placing his hands on his shoulders, helping him into a sitting position on the steps.

"I've been better but forget about me. Nii-chan and Sora are still up there with that psycho! I have no clue what he is but he is seriously strong, I couldn't keep up with his movements."

"T.K!" Hikari and Tokomon yelled simultaneously as they and the rest of the group caught up to Tai. Hikari pried Takeru's hands away from his side before lifting his shirt slightly to inspect the injury. She was greeted with the sight of a large bruise which ran along his ribcage down to just before his hip, the bruise was already changing to a deep purplish colour but other then that he seemed unharmed.

"Hikari look after him, we are going up!" Tai declared, as he turned to climb the remaining stairs he heard Yamato's pain stricken scream. He didn't stop to see the others reaction. If he had he would have seen how all the colour drained from their faces and Takeru spring to his feet to follow him. Tai reached them first; he shielded his eyes from the sparks. He could make out the back of his best friend being forcefully held against the barrier. Anger took hold of him as Yamato continued screaming and watched as his body convulsed against the barrier. He didn't think as he plunged forward aiming for the legs of the man holding Yamato causing all four of them to fly away from the barrier. The man's eyes widened as he was propelled backward by the unseen teen, his surprise gave Sora the opportunity she was waiting for and she promptly kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could causing the man to loosen his grip. She rolled away from him as they all skidded to a halt. Lifting herself off the ground she sprang at him aiming for Yamato who lay limp and lifeless still within the man's grasp. She managed to toss the man's hand away, pulling Yamato's head onto her lap as she did so.

Tai straddled the man and gripped him by his lapel with his left hand, raising his right for a well deserved punch only to find the man had simply disappeared. Tai looked around quickly before spotting the man who was now standing before them, if Tai had been able to see him before he would have noted that the mask had changed from a twisted smile to a furious frown.

"Would you kindly refrain from getting this suit dirty, it's _very _expensive." The man growled.

"Fuck you, a dirty suits gonna be the least of your worries in a minute!" Tai spate, fury coating every syllable as he glared at him

The man cocked his head as the remaining members of the team, accompanied by the digimon, rushed over to Yamato and Sora. Agumon ran to his partner's side eyeing the man with caution.

"Digimon that have yet to be assimilated? Oh dear this may make things difficult. I had so hoped you had all been taken care of, I loath joyous reunions." The man complained.

"Agumon!" Tai ordered.

Complying with his partners command Agumon was once again enveloped in evolutionary light as he digivolved through the stages all the way up to Wargreymon. He swiped the air with his claws and assumed a defensive stance between Tai and the man. The man sighed and shook his head from side to side sticking his hands into his trouser pockets. Tai slowly got to his feet, letting his arms hang loose as he stood. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this _pissed off_. This asshole had hurt his little sister, his friends. Uncharacteristic hatred burned behind his eyes as he looked over to Yamato and Sora. The rest of the group had crowded around them; Sora hugging Yamato's head to her chest while Takeru held his hand and Joe checked his vitals for the second time today. She was covered in filth from the fall, her clothes were riddled with scrapes and holes, her skin was covered in a multitude of tiny scratches and her hair was wildly unkempt. None of this seemed to concern her at all as she met Tai's gaze with an intense fiery glare to match his own. She didn't need to say it and neither did he, they didn't care that this guy was human. He was going _**down**__._

"Wargreymon, no mercy!" Tai demanded with a loud cry.

"With pleasure." Wargreymon growled. He lunged at the man, attempting to skewer him on his claws, only for the man to step lightly to the side. Wargreymon continued to press him with a quick succession of swipes and jabs. Each hit came within a hairs breath of the man but he dodged them all by ducking and weaving, never taking his hands out of his pockets. Wargreymon misjudged his footing as he lunged again, creating an opening which the man used to land a hard punch to Wargreymon's chin. Wargreymon flipped backwards, plunging his claw into the ground to slow him down as he landed on his feet and skidded backwards. The remaining digidestined's digimon, with the exception of Tsunomon, Tokomon (who only evolved to Patamon) and Salamon (who only evolved to Gatomn), digivolved to their adult forms during this exchange and moved to attack, combining their efforts by firing their signature moves at the man. He tsked as he jumped to avoid the onslaught; Wargreymon leapt at him while he was still in the air aiming for his head. The man was unable to completely dodge in time; Wargreymons claw grazed the side of the mask above his left eye, causing it to fracture and crack revealing a small portion of the man's face. The man landed heavily on his feet, clasping at the fractured mask and gingerly feeling along the newly created edges.

"Heh you actually broke it…looks like I have to end it here." The only revealed portion of the man's face allowed Tai to see him furrow his brow in apparent pain. Dark energy pulsed outward from his quivering form as his breathing became more erratic. Tai scowled, shooting Wargreymon a commanding look. Wargreymon nodded and made to attack the man again but the pulses threw him back causing him to crash into Kabuterimon, knocking him out of the sky.

"Don't worry I'll be back. I know who I'm looking for now so it's only a matter of time before I get what I want." The man threatened before he vanished in an imploding flash of dark light. The air where he once stood crackled with what appeared to be black electricity before settling back to normalcy.

"Damn! How the hell did that bastard manage to get away? We almost had him!" Tai vented in frustration.

Sora was cleaning Yamato's face dabbing away the thin stream of blood pouring from his mouth. "I thought we were all converted to data when we came here…why is he bleeding?" She whispered.

"Hikari was bleeding too. It looks like even as data our blood remains the same colour, last time we were here we managed to avoid shedding any…so I never knew." Koushirou offered. Sora gave no response instead choosing to stare down at Yamato's face. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead but his breathing had changed from short struggling pants to a steady rhythm. She twirled his dusty golden tresses between her fingers; she didn't know if this is what was helping but his previously pained expression smoothed out causing the group to sigh in relief. "_He looks so peaceful now, just like he's sleeping. I've never been able to see him up close like this before…he really is breathtaking." _She mentally noted.

Takeru let relief shower over his anguished countenance as Yamato finally showed some improvement. He felt Hikari squeeze his hand so he turned to see her smiling at him, relief evident on her face as well. He raised her hand to his lips lacing their fingers together, kissing each of her fingers lightly in unspoken thanks. She raised her eyebrows in surprise before letting them drop and leaning in to kiss his interlocked fingertips. Mimi found herself fairly envious of the exchange, wishing she too could be comforted like that. As if to compensate for this she grabbed Kousirou's arm, hugging it to her chest causing it to nestle between her breasts. Koushirou blushed profusely but made no move to correct her. Joe saw them in the corner of his eye, making him produce a small frown but he said nothing. The digimon had regressed to their child forms and watched the humans various actions with puzzled looks. Tsunomon nuzzled Yamato's left hand while gazing sadly at the teen.

"We have to get back to the portal, Yamato and T.K need to see a doctor plus we have no idea if that creep is coming back with reinforcements." Tai made the decision effortlessly. Even though it had been years since they were here he fell snugly back into the leader position. Everyone was glad he was there helping boost morale and making important decisions.

"Even if we go back we can't take them to a hospital, how are we going to explain the injuries? We can't take the digimon with us to a hospital and according to Gennai's story that guy can appear in the real world as well." Joe voiced his concerns as Sora helped Tai get Yamato onto his back, Yamato's head lay limply on Tai's shoulder and his whole body sagged. Tai was more then prepared for it though and easily supported him. Hikari propped Takeru's arm over her shoulder as they both got to their feet.

"That is a bit of an issue. Has your brother left for those islands yet?" Tai inquired.

Joe shook his head as he replied "No he still has a few weeks before he's scheduled to leave."

"Well there you go; there is a doctor in the house." Tai smiled before beginning the long trek back.

* * *

"Whatever happened seems to have rattled his system but I don't believe he needs any surgery. He should definitely get at least a full day's bed rest though." Jim regimented after he finished examining Yamato who was lying in his own bed. Jim had reached the apartment in record time after Joe had called him upon their return. Though Jim didn't like the fact that they didn't want to go to the hospital he had agreed to treat their injured comrades because he understood the danger they faced. Takeru was resting in his fathers room with Hikari since Jim had told him he hadn't broken anything. However he had bruised his ribs so bed rest was advised. Sora nodded, thanking him for his efforts. She was sitting beside Yamato on the bed in a kneeling position with Tsunomon in her lap since there were no chairs in the room. Jim gave her a kind smile before exiting.

Biyomon stood at the end of the bed chatting away happily giving her account of the years Sora had been absent before the digiworld had changed. She listened to Biyomon's recollections, happy to finally be reunited with her friend but at the same time never taking her eyes off of Yamato. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully now though he still hadn't woken up; even when they had landed in an undignified heap after being sent back through the portal he hadn't stirred. She brushed a wayward strand of hair from his forehead before hesitating then, affirming her resolve, tenderly tracing the curve of his jaw with her fingers before cupping the side of his face as she gently pushed Tsunomon off her lap. She watched him for a moment, feeling his deep breathing against her thumb before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his unresisting lips. Biyomon stopped speaking as Sora did so; she and Tsunomon trading a confused look before Biyomon shrugged and began speaking again. Sora pulled back in astonishment as Yamato let out a soft moan; her face was inches from his as his eyes fluttered open dreamily.

"So…ra?" He breathed. She quickly sat back up trying to pull her hand which was still cupping his face back with her. But before she could he covered it with his. Closing his eyes he turned his head so he could slide the palm of her hand over his lips, pressing her hand closer as he did so. "_This can't be real…where am I? All I can remember is that indescribable pain, did I…die?" _He mused. Sora's breath involuntarily quickened as he remained still, she made no further effort to pull her hand away instead opting to wait for him to open his eyes again. "_It's so warm…" _He gradually opened his eyes as he thought, blinking rapidly when he realised that this was no dream or afterlife. He peeked up at Sora once he realised where he was, expecting her to demand answers for what he realised was an undeniable act of affection. He released her hand quickly but she withdrew it agonizingly leisurely, brushing the tips of her fingers against his partially open mouth. He paused, savouring the sensation of her touch before memory slammed into him like a freight train.

"Did he hurt you?" He questioned as he jumped up immediately gripping her forearms and examining her. Her light blue blouse had been torn slightly at the front revealing a small glimpse of her vermilion bra, her jeans suffered from several nicks and tears. There was a very tiny scrap just under her eye, he raised his hand and lightly brushed it with his thumb.

"ME? Yamato he almost killed you! I'm perfectly fine." She reassured him with urgency before soothingly pushing him back down onto the bed. "Rest now, I'll fill you in later." Her hair tickled his face as she spoke, she was leaning over him now, her face awash with concern and something else. Something he was sure he could place now. Nothing like a close call to force you to up your game. He tilted his head up and crashed his lips into hers, melting his hand into her hair to push her forward. She remained stunned for only a moment before permitting him entrance. Yamato knew it would feel good when, or _if_, he got to kiss her. He just never knew how _freaking amazing _it would be. Her tongue was soft, warm and just so _skilful. _She tasted of milk and honey and something else that was just unspeakably Sora. He wanted this moment to go on and on and _on_ but unfortunately Tsunomon, who had to his credit been waiting very patiently, decided to force his way between them. Yamato's annoyance dissolved when he realised who had interrupted them.

"Yamato you finally woke up, I was so worried!" Tsunomon cried.

"Tsunomon you're okay! God I missed you." Yamato wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. They both laughed happily at the gesture. Sora smiled at the reunion before she got up, heading out the room to let the others know Yamato was ok. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face or suppress her giddiness as she glided out the door.


	5. Realisations

Authors note: phew this chapter gave me difficulty but here it is all in one piece. And thanks so much for taking the time to read it if I could I've give everybody chocolate crocodiles!

* * *

Chapter 5: Realisation

"From what I saw from the skirmish I believe that eerie mask is what's giving that man those inhuman like abilities. He wasn't happy at all when WarGreymon damaged it. Those pulses we saw were certainly an influx of the masks raw power, without it he was unable to command his abilities efficiently." Koushirou observed. He, Tai, Mimi and Joe were sitting at the table discussing what course of action they should take.

Jim had been forced to leave due to his parents demanding him and Joe return home. He had left in such a hurry that they were both extremely concerned for their welfare, though he had managed to appease them enough to allow Joe to stay he had been forced to return.

Tai voiced his opinion "Okay so all we have to do is destroy that stupid mask, WarGreymon almost managed it this time so when Yama has recovered and MetalGarurumon joins the fray we should be able to stop him no problem!"

Koushirou seemed to mull over this for a second, pinching the ridge of his nose and scrunching his face in concentration. "Perhaps. The only problem with that plan is that there are too many variables. What if that man has reinforcements? Or worse yet that man could have been holding back, we still know far too little to just rush back into the digital world."

"This is getting frustrating. That man this that man that! Let's name him something. I'm tired of listening to it." Mimi interrupted.

"I vote Bastard; in fact I bet that's his real name." Tai proffered, an evil smirk spreading across his face.

"Oh it suits him so well." Mimi clapped in agreement.

Koushirou gave Tai and Mimi an exasperated look before speaking. "Ok then. All we know is _Bastard_…" Tai smirked at Koushirou's use of the designated name. "…wants Yamato and Sora for unknown reasons. The only clue we have is that they were both rejected by the barrier."

"Guys Yamato's up! He seems fine now." Sora declared as she entered the room, they all offered her relieved looks.

"Just in time! We have some things we need to discuss, come on people lets go congratulate Mr sleepy head." Tai rose up from his seat at the table as he spoke, leading Sora and the others back into Yamato's room. Takeru and Hikari were already there, Takeru taking up Sora's previous position on the bed with Hikari at his side. They were all chatting amicably; Patamon perched himself on Takeru's head while Gatomon appeared to be discussing something with Biyomon.

"Well look who's up, slept long enough did you?" Tai beamed at Yamato who raised an eyebrow at him.

Yamato yawned with obvious exaggeration before countering "Actually now that you mention it I could sleep for another millennia or two, don't wake me."

"Yeesh I knew you were lazy but my _god._" Tai cooed, crossing his arms and leaning toward Yamato.

"Glad you're up, you seem to have recovered. We were just discussing how we should proceed. I was wondering if you had any idea why Bastard needs Sora and you, or why your reaction to the barrier was his method of determining who he was after. What exactly do you and Sora have in common? Did you get a chance to speak with him?" Koushirou asked.

"Bastard?" Yamato queried.

"It's his name!" Mimi chimed.

"Hah fits him perfectly." Yamato scoffed. "Sorry I didn't get any information out of him…I've been trying to figure it out but I've been drawing blanks."

"Maybe its cause you're both so _feminine."_ Tai was punished for his guess by finding his vision clouded in white as Yamato threw a pillow at his face.

"HEY! I'm more beautifully feminine then you can handle and he wasn't after me!" Mimi interjected.

Koushirou silently slipped out of the room while Mimi attacked Tai, who was epically failing to defend himself as she repeatedly hit him over the head with the pillow. Koushirou sat down at Yamato's computer in the living room, he was trying to get in contact with Gennai; since he had actually been there he was trying to establish a permanent connection to Gennai's home but it _still _wasn't working. Koushirou tapped the mouse impatiently when the screen flashed; the bright light almost caused him to fall off the chair, instead he managed to stay upright watching with growing dread as the screen turned black. He could have sworn that for a split second he saw two deep red glows in the depth of the murky darkness before the actual _screen_ began to quiver. A thick viscous black fluid bubbled out the sides of the screen as though a torrent of the substance was applying great pressure to surface from the other side, forcing its way out. A small amount spilled onto the back of hand his hand before he rapidly withdrew it from the keyboard, he stared at it with odd fascination before he realised the entire area the liquid had touched had turned deathly numb. No not numb…it was as though the section of his hand were simply _gone_. He leaped into the air as the substance began to pour out in thick, steady streams coating the keyboard and dripping off the side of the desk forming large black pools at the foot of the chair. Cradling his injured hand he ran for Yamato's room crying out in warning.

"Koushi! What the hell…what happened to your hand?" Tai stuck his head out the door so Koushirou had to skid to avoid crashing into him.

"We have to get out of here! An unknown substance is coming out of the computer and I can tell you from experience you don't want to touch it." Koushirou proclaimed as he pushed past Tai. His laptop was still plugged into the charger were he had left it so he sat down typing away with only one hand since his other proved useless. Mimi grabbed his afflicted arm, holding his hand up to inspect it. The substance had adsorbed into his skin turning it dull grey making her scowl anxiously. Tai had left the room, heading for the computer. His gait was halted however as the viscous liquid gushed out into the hallway flowing in a large wave toward him. He doubled back quickly, pushing Agumon back into the room and slamming the door. The liquid began seeping under the door towards them; the room was crowded with digimon and human alike trying their best to get as far from the ooze as was physically possible. Unfortunately due to the size of the room that wasn't very far and Tai's eyes widened as the liquid almost came into contact with his foot.

"Anytime now!" Tai pressed.

Koushirou was struggling to type due to the amount of bodies being shoved against him trying to avoid the dark matter seeping into the room and the fact that he was only able to use one hand. A small bead of sweat dribbled down his face as he entered the final code. To his amazement, without any prompting from him to let her know he was finished, Mimi pressed herself against his back extending her digivice towards the screen "DIGIPORT OPEN" She yelled. Koushirou was impressed at the lack of hesitancy or fear in her voice. The bright light enveloped them all just as the door gave way flooding the room with the dark ooze.

* * *

"What was that stuff?" Tentamon buzzed as they all got to their feet.

"I don't know." Koushirou stated.

"Ahhh! The digiport!" Joe yelped, pointing a shaky finger at the portal they had just used. The screen had turned the same black colour it had just before it had started to release the noxious slime-like substance.

"Pepper breath!" Agumon destroyed the portal on Tai's command, the screen melted before making a puttering sound and powering down.

"Our way back…" Hikari murmured.

"Sorry I couldn't think of anything else." Tai looked apologetically at his team; Yamato placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly. "You had to do it; it's not your fault."

"Okay. No laptop no way back and no idea where we are. Could be worse I suppose." Joe sighed. "We could be dead instead of just waiting to die."

Gomamon rolled his eyes "Come on Joe cheer up, we're all together right? We'll protect you just like before! And I'm sure we'll come across another portal sooner or later."

"Why didn't we come out of the same portal as before, the one near Gennai's?" Sora questioned.

"Apparently that code I've been using has a random setting." Koushirou stated. He didn't want to voice his silent fear that whoever sent him the code might be able to decide the destination. He nursed his hand; it was extremely unsettling to feel like he was stroking air instead of flesh. Mimi clutched his hand in both of hers, he couldn't feel it but he certainly wished he could. "Does it hurt?" She asked. He shook his head, delicately prying his unfeeling hand out of her grasp, holding onto her by the tips of her fingers with his still normal hand. "It doesn't. It feels like it's gone."

"Gone…? Like numb?"

"No…Like it never even existed. It's the oddest sensation I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing."

"We've got to get back to Gennai's, maybe he can help." Tai announced.

Yamato could almost feel the tension in the air, the place they had landed was completely unfamiliar. The sky had darkened even further since there last visit, shedding bleak light across the ragged landscape. He could faintly see what he assumed was a hill or mountain of some sort in the distance, to his left he made out a small forested area.

"Bastard might know we arrived this way. I say we wait in that clearing over their, if he does come we can hopefully spot him before he sees us and land a surprise attack. Not to mention none of us have been able to rest for very long back home and I don't think we can go very far in this light." Tai declared. No one objected as they followed him toward the ominous looking trees, sticking close together so as not to loose one another. Just beyond the clearing there was a small groove in the ground, the ridges on either side were high enough to conceal the group from view should anyone come to inspect the portal, though if they were found inside they would be sitting ducks. Still it seemed better then the alternative.

"I'll take first watch, I got to sleep remember? Hopefully night in the digital world won't last too long." Yamato offered.

"Sounds good to me, I can't believe you would offer in light of just how lazy you are." Tai sneered light-heartedly.

"Come on Tai you're always late whenever we meet up and you have the gall to call me lazy." Yamato countered.

"Hey now I carried your sorry ass all the way back home when you took your little nap. Oh yeah you still haven't thanked me, I will accept nothing less then a heartfelt letter of thanks detailing just how grateful you are to me, your saviour!"

Yamato lifted his eybrows before placing his palm against his chest, dropping to one knee, throwing his arm against his forehead and closing his eyes in mock anguish. "Oh my dear saviour I cannot possibly express in words how exceedingly grateful I am!" He opened his eyes in a feigned look of earnest, grabbing Tai's hand in his. "No-one else could have preformed such a noble and heart-warming deed as this, except for perhaps a mule, so I am eternally in your debt!"

Tai blinked before they both erupted in laughter, it proved to be infectious as it rippled through the group. The light sound lifted the once heavy atmosphere as they settled down for the night.

* * *

"Yamato…can we talk?" Sora came up behind him startling him slightly. The others had all fallen asleep, used to staying in uncomfortable areas thanks to their previous trials. Takeru was sleeping in a sitting position against the wall with Hikari leaning on his shoulder. Koushirou and Mimi lay facing each other on the floor, his injured hand held by her since she refused to leave it alone. Tai was snoring lightly which was a first for him near where Sora and Yamato now stood and Joe was sleeping peacefully against the far side of the ridge.

"Sure what's the matter?" He asked. For the past hour he had been resisting the urge to wake her in order to speak to her alone, after that pretty obvious declaration of love he had realised they hadn't had a chance to express it in words. Were they together now? Or did she let him kiss her in a momentary lapse of judgement? Was she mad? She wrung her hands together as he waited for her to speak.

"It's just…I'm really worried. Bastard needs us and we have no idea why…I'm…afraid. I don't want to lose you." She cast her gaze away from him as she spoke, apparently finding a patch of the ground awfully interesting.

"I know how you feel. I'm terrified of what Bastard's going to do next. I keep jumping at shadows. But it will be ok…it always is." He closed the distance between them as he spoke reaching out to tilt her head upwards. He leaned in brushing their lips together before planting a small kiss; he withdrew only to find himself being forcefully pulled back as she gripped the back of his head with both her hands pulling him down to her level. He returned the kiss with gusto, wrapping his arms around her waist bringing his hand up to push against her shoulder blade. He ran his other hand along her spine before settling it into the small of her back, she moaned into his mouth deliciously as he did so. He closed his eyes savouring the feel of her form against him; they broke apart slowly to catch their breath but she closed the gap again almost as soon she breathed in, she almost seemed afraid he would disappear if the contact was broken for too long.

"Tai told me what to say in these situations…what was it? Oh yeah! Get a room you two!" Agumon interrupted their embrace causing them to push apart, both blushing intensely and seeming to be unsure of where they should put their hands.

"Wha…? Come on mom I was on time yesterday just give me five more minutes…" Tai mumbled behind them causing them both to jump before he rolled over and settled back into dreamland.

Yamato turned away from her before spotting a light in the mountainous area he had seen before. The inky black light that had flowed around the plains was turning into a bright grey as the apparent night became day though no sun shone in the sky. Still the small glittering light continued to beckon to him. "Wake the others up Gabumon, I thing we have a lead." He instructed. Gabumon, who had been silent during their kiss so much so that Sora had forgotten he was there nodded and proceeded to wake the group.

* * *

"It looks like a digiport." Tai observed as they came within running distance of the light. They had decided the small source of light was there only option since they still didn't really know where they were. They were close enough now to see it was an old TV set, flickering through static. In order to get to it they were going to have to pass in front of the cavernous opening of the now confirmed cave. Yamato glanced at it, wavering before he got near, the others didn't seem to notice him as they darted toward the digiport. Gabumon looked up at him with a perplexed expression. The darkness of the opening seemed almost unnatural, more unnatural then the black trees or rocks which he stood beside, so unnatural but vaguely familiar…

Then it hit him, so fast and so hard that it felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach. Ice spread through him as the blood drained from his face causing him to let out an audible gasp. Koushirou's question echoed. What does he and Sora have in common? What does everything in the digital world reflect?

The black trees and rocks, the black substance creating nothingness, the grey landscape and clouded sky that sheds light devoid of all colour.

_Something he never thought he'd have to dwell on again._

The deep blackness.

_Something he and Sora both suffered from and conquered._

The _**darkness**__._

"STOP!" He yelled. Sora, who was bringing up the rear of the group, whipped her head around to look back at him just as Bastard miraculously appeared before the terminal, stopping the rest of the groups in their tracks. Tai slid to a halt mere inches from Bastard, close enough to see the small barely visible line of repair on the mask which was once again smiling.

"So nice of you all to fall into this _obvious_ ploy oh so easily, I've been waiting." Bastard jeered.

* * *

More author stuff: Big humongous cookie to anyone who guessed what they had in common correctly! I don't think it was too difficult to figure out but I gave being mysterious a good go hehehe


	6. Despair

Authors note: This was a joy to write, my absolute favourite chapter so far. This is the original idea that allowed me to write this story. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! It's even longer then the first one hehehe.

* * *

Chapter 6: Despair

"Shit…" Tai took a couple of involuntary steps back as the light of digivolution shone all around him before WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon stood before him, flanking him on either side. He felt Hikari tug at his sleeve urging him to retreat from the coming battle. He eyed Bastard who remained stationary in a relatively relaxed pose, the unseeing holes that served as eyes for the mask seemed to stare straight through Tai causing sweat to appear on his brow as he turned to follow Hikari. The ground before them split, halting their retreat. Mimi dithered precariously on the edge but just before she could fall forward into the newly formed crevice Koushirou grabbed her around her waist, pulling her back to safety as they both landed hard on the floor.

Yamato watched from his position of relative safety within the grove as that same viscous liquid began bubbling and frothing forth from the cracked ground which extended in a semicircle trapping the others in front of the now decidedly ominous cave. He had sent MetalGarurumon over to help but knew it would be useless to go over himself though he desperately wanted to, they wanted him _and_ Sora and she was in there!

Within the barrier Takeru grasped Hikari close to himself; she was shivering again and mumbling incoherently into his chest with her hands firmly clasped onto her head. He pulled her roughly away from the edge as the liquid sprang forth.

"Eh…?" The substance came out so quickly and unexpectedly that Palmon was unable to get out of reach in time as it coated her from head to toe.

"PALMON!" Mimi screamed as Koushirou dragged her from the liquid. Palmon reached out to her, smiling lightly as she did so. "Mimi I'm so sorry…" she said sadly as the liquid pulled her down into the abyss away from Mimi's outstretched arms.

"Palmon…? PALMON!" Mimi struggled against Koushirou's firm grip around her waist. He stroked her hair spouting apologies as he did so; she ceased her wild flaying and threw her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.

"Bastard! What happened to Palmon!" Tai demanded, turning his attention back to the battle taking place behind him; while the earth had broken and Palmon had been consumed WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon had been trying to damage Bastard. Wargreymon swiped at his legs forcing him to jump into the air straight into the path of MetalGarurumon's Cocytus breath. Bastard vanished reappearing directly above MetalGarurumon applying a swift drop kick to his back sending him crashing to the ground. The liquid brushed against his back foot as he leapt back into the air, the substance retreating back into the crevice only pushing out when anyone came near.

The remaining digimon had evolved into their mega levels excluding Patamon and Gatamon who had only evolved to their adult forms. MegaKabuterimon tried to fly over the fissured earth only for the liquid to shoot up at him; he narrowly avoided a face full. Angewomon and Angemon fired their arrows at Bastard but he quickly dodged and Wargreymon, who had been attempting an attack from behind, was struck in the chest propelling him backwards. He hit the rising liquid with his back, it dripped over his shield as his eyes widened in panic at the sensation, he yelled before devolving down to Koromon and falling away from the ooze.

"Koromon!" Tai shouted, gliding across the dirt on his knees as he caught Koromon whose back had turned the same dull shade of grey as Koushirous hand. Koromon looked up at Tai with confusion written on his features "Sorry Tai I don't know what happened…I know its there but I can't feel anything…it sucks" Koromon whimpered as he closed his eyes and began breathing quietly in slumber.

"_Shit there's no bloody room! What can I do…we can still beat him. I refuse to give up!" _ Tai stood slowly, twirling to face the growing chaos taking place behind him; Sora was stroking Mimi's back as she sobbed into Koushirou's arms, Takeru was trying to keep hold of Tai's increasingly shaking sister and Joe was running toward him.

He watched as Bastard ducked and darted between an onslaught of arrows and special moves which sent him into the path of Zudomon's Vulcan hammer. Bastard back flipped onto the top of the hammer as Zudomon slammed it down. Stooping down low with his arms outstretched his hands began to glow with an odd dark light. The light formed sharp peaks above his outspread fingers forming dark energy blades which extended for a few inches. He started running up Zudomon's arm and leapt into the air, bringing his bladed hand down into the unprotected space between Zudomon's horn and shell. Zudomon bellowed in anguish as he devolved back to Bukamon and fell to the floor unmoving, his whole body had turned grey.

"BAASSSTAARRD!" Garudamon cried as she punched at him with her Crimson claws. Bastard continued dodging but that's what she was hoping for. MetalGarurumon stealthily circled around as Garudomon steered Bastard toward him, Angemon and Angewomon hovering over MetalGarurumon's head with arrows at the ready. Bastard, sensing the incoming attacks, whirled around to face them. He dodged an Electro Shocker sent by MegaKabuterimon from above only to find himself trapped in a headlock by Garudamon.

"Now!" She cried. Bastard quickly produced another energy blade from the base of his foot, stabbing Garudamon in the thigh causing her to drop to one knee as the other digimon launched their attacks toward them. Two of the attacks missed their mark completely but Angewomon's Celestial arrow grazed the left side of Bastard's mask creating a small crack.

"Yes!" Angewomon proclaimed.

Bastard pushed his blade further into Garudomon's thigh, dull grey spread out from his blade until it coated her completely. She turned her gaze to Sora who was screaming her name and reaching out to her, Garudomon smiled before shutting her eyes and devolving into Yokomon. Bastard ran swiftly forward as she did so; MetalGarurumon barely managed to dodge the blade Bastard plunged toward him, receiving a small scratch as he jumped away.

Bastard panted heavily, recovering from the new injury and the recent miss. Leaping into the air just as MegaKabuterimon flew past he drove his right arm's blade deep into MegaKabuterimons exposed stomach. MegaKabuterimon wriggled and writhed as he tried to dislodge Bastards weapon but it was to no avail as the dull grey colour spread through him forcing him back to Motimon. Bastard landed on one knee with Motimon falling to the ground behind him only to be forced to jump to the side as MetalGarurumon sprang at him.

"Heh to think you all would give me this much trouble…" Bastard muttered. Unseen by the digimon thanks to the mask he closed his eyes in concentration as Angewomon and Angemon fired a barrage of arrows at him. They both watched in horror as he used the dark blades on his feet to hop from arrow to arrow toward them. They didn't have time to dodge when Bastard brought both his arms together palms up and shot a massive beam of energy toward them. It expanded spreading into an all consuming force which blinded the digidestined who were watching in dismay as Angewomon and Angemon vanished.

Takeru blinked several times before he could see again and spotted Tokomon and Salamon lying on the ground in front of him. He dragged Hikari over to them, she still was still mumbling and didn't seem to realise what was happening.

Bastard's mask crumbled away until it was only covering his right eye. Tai could now see his face and though his features could be described as handsome the exposed deep blue, almost black eye betrayed his true nature. A cacophony of emotions stirred within the deep pools, the most predominant being anger and…joy? Tai shook his head; the man was obviously greatly disturbed to wear such an expression in the midst of battle.

Bastard heaved and grasped his chest; his dark hair was plastered to his exposed brow and he licked his dry lips. MetalGarurumon snarled, he was the only one left and he was going to finish it. He charged at Bastard only to stop mere milimeters before him, his open jaws seconds away from clamping down on Bastards head. MetalGarurumon shuddered in alarm as he realised the small scratch he had received from bastard before had caused his whole body to gradually turn grey; he looked across the crevice meeting Yamato's concerned gaze before transforming back to Tsunomon landing beside Bastards feet.

"Well I would say that was fun but guh-" Bastard faltered, the blades from his hands and feet disappeared as he shakily tried to steady himself. "Hah…I suppose its curtain call." He turned toward Tai just as Tai balled his right hand into a fist and struck Bastard's exposed jaw sending him skidding across the ground.

"That felt _good." _Tai grunted, shoving his right fist into his left hand and flexing his neck. "It's our win so tell us how to cure our digimon._"_

Bastard then did something Tai didn't expect, he started sniggering before erupting into full blown laughter.

"Your win? How ridiculous! This is only the start _boy." _ Saying that he disappeared from Tai's sight, the digidestined looked around desperately trying to see where he would reappear.

"Well desperate times and such, you really are second best but there is just _no_ helping it." Sora's breathing hitched as Bastard whispered into her ear behind her. He grabbed her forearm and pulled out an ornate dagger from his back; it had been hidden underneath his dress jacket and he pushed her body closer to him in order to brush the flat of the blade against her face. She froze at the feel; the blade curved, dipping inward and outward forming a sharp menacing tip at the top. It seemed to somehow glisten with dark light as he drew it away from her; she could hear the others shouting her name and demanding he release her.

Tai ran toward Bastard as quickly as he could. Bastard cracked a demented smile, directing it straight at Tai and having the _nerve_ to wink at him as he dragged the blade across Sora's palm. As soon as the first drop of blood hit the ground it began to shake, and a gargled roaring sound came from the cave as Bastard turned Sora toward its gaping entrance. He tossed the knife away as she struggled against him but he held her firm, forcing her palm forward toward the opening.

Tai continued to run almost reaching Sora before he was forcefully stopped, he tried to compel himself forward but his legs simply wouldn't move. He looked down to find out what could be holding him back, dark tendrils had wrapped around his legs, they extended from the earth itself and held him forcefully in place. He saw the others were suffering from the same problem, unable to move from were they stood. He turned his attention to the opening as the gargled roar increased to an almost deafening tempo, then sudden silence.

The darkness of the entrance ripple and stretched, Tai had to cover his ears at the terrible ripping sound as the darkness seemed to fold inward. A large mass began to form at the lip of the entrance; it was as tall as a small building and just as wide, the mass bubbled and stretched, shrinking down to more regular size as protrusions poked out at odd angles and something that resembled a human torso formed. The whole thing wriggled and writhed, it looked like large maggots were moving beneath the impossibly black skin of the creature which was slipping off the newly formed arms, never breaking into liquid as it sloughed onto the floor and rejoined the creature at its base. Two holes appeared on what one could assume was the head, a dark red glow the colour of blood shone deep within the sunken sockets. The skin continued to constantly move as it slouched forward, it was shuddering and letting out strangled moans as it dragged itself forward. Its jaw dislocated and hung lamely on one side but it simply reached up and forced it back into place with a sickening SNAP. The group was watching with growing horror as it attempted to quite literally pull itself together. Joe turned quickly to vomit as it inched closed to Sora. It reached out to her, extending its grotesque arm toward her outstretched palm.

Yamato couldn't take it anymore. He backed up before running full throttle toward the large gap separating him from the others, to his surprise the black liquid didn't flow out at him as he made the jump, breaking into a roll on the landing. He quickly got to his feet running for Sora but the odd black tendrils wrapped around his ankles. The creature was only seconds away from grasping Sora's outstretched palms when he spotted the knife; it was close enough for him to reach if he really tried. His fingers brushed the hilt as he forced himself closer. Just a little further…

It was risky, he might not come back from this…he could die. Everything could end, no more future, no more performing on stage listening to the hollering crowds and feeling the sweet adrenaline rush through his veins, no more parties with his closest friends, no more laughing with Tai at their various antics, no more advising Takeru on how far he should take it with Hikari.

But this was _**Sora**_.

"OI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Everyone turned to face him including Bastard and the creature. Sora looked at him; at first relief flooded her features until her eyes fell upon the knife, they then changed as she tried to beg him with her eyes not to do what he was planning. He locked his gaze with hers trying to apologize, trying to say without speaking how much she meant to him and how much he would miss her. He reluctantly broke away, turning his attention to the creature. "You want me? Come and get me!" He dragged the knife across his palm feeling his skin tear beneath the blade as he spoke.

The creature almost seemed to _smile_ as he did so; it dragged itself towards him with previously unseen speed stopping its face mere inches from his, it broke into a mad grin that spread impossibly far across its face. He shook in shock as he took in the creature, watching with morbid fascination as its skin boiled over revealing small sections of bone before covering it up with more of the flesh like substance. It clutched his open wound with its hand and moved to stand behind him; it interlocked their fingers and braced the nook of its arm against his elbow, his skin crawled at the feel of the creatures flesh against his own as it placed what might be considered its chin on his shoulder.

"Ya…ma…to…" He froze as it gurgled out his name. "_How does it know that? I thought it didn't know who we were!" _ His thoughts ran wild as the creatures arm melded with his own through the cut on his hand; he stared at his arm in shock as it began to move without any command from him, the creature used his _own_ left hand to steal the knife out of his right. Alarm rang through his system as his own arm aimed the knife towards his stomach, he grasped his wrist with his right hand struggling as the creature brought it closed and closer to him. He began to panic as he realised that even using all his strength he couldn't stop it, he leaned away from its tip but the creature was still behind him and prevented him from getting very far. The creature paused just as the tip of the blade brushed his wrinkled white shirt.

"I…Lo..ve…Y..ou." It gurgled just as it rapidly plunged the dagger deep into his abdomen; he opened his mouth in a wordless scream as mind numbing pain spread through his entire form. He had never imagined how badly being stabbed might feel but even if he had nothing could have prepared him for this kind of pain. He shuddered against the blade as the creature slowly withdrew it, blood pouring out of the new wound in thick streams quickly coating his shirt changing it to a deep crimson and spilling out onto his black jeans, trickling down his trouser leg and forming a deep pool at his feet.

"Nii-chan!" Takeru shouted as he tried in vain to free himself from the tendrils which held him firmly in place.

"NOOOOO!" Sora screamed, the others were screaming his name and trying to get to him as well but she couldn't care less, Bastard's grip on her had weakened so she elbowed him in the stomach to get herself free. She was the only one not being held down so she ran for him, her heart hammering against her chest and panic coursing through her veins. "_No no no no no no NO!" _She repeated to herself, closing the distance between them painfully slowly. Yamato turned his head to her; his fair hair hung limply over his eyes as he stared at her, blood streaming down the corner of his open mouth in a thin rivulet. She watched his crystal blue orbs soften as he mouthed two heart wrenching words causing tears to flow freely down her face as the creature thrust its hand into the fresh wound; _forgive me. _

The creature's body was violently gurgling and bulging as it was seemingly _sucked_ into the wound. The tendril's preventing the others from moving were withdrawn as the last of the creature was absorbed into Yamato's body. It felt as though he was disappearing, the temporary relief from the stab wound forgotten as the last of the creature merged with his body; this new pain was _indescribable_. It was even worse then the barrier, it felt like his every nerve were being painfully twisted out and replaced. Sora finally reached him as Yamato slumped forward, he was still standing but his knees were bent and his arms hung uselessly by his sides.

"…Yamato?" She questioned, reaching out to touch his down turned head. Before she contacted him his head shot up abruptly causing her to pull back. Whatever was looking at her now wasn't Yamato; his face and hair were the same apart from the grey pallor of his skin and all the blood had vanished from his face but that's not what made her so sure. It was his eyes; they no longer glowed bright blue or held the mirth and hint of mischief she had grown to love, instead they were a dark red showing no emotion at all. _Empty._

The thing wearing Yamato's face broke into a wild grin, standing perfectly straight and throwing his head back in vicious laughter. He walked toward her; every step he took left a deep impression in the ground; grabbing her face roughly before she could pull away he yanked her head to the side and brought his mouth so close to her ear she could feel his breath tickling against it.

"He's MINE bitch, he's _always _been mine!" He hissed. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as he withdrew, pushing her backwards causing her to fall to the ground as he did so. He pushed down on his neck with his left hand massaging it as he moved his head from side to side. He spun around to look at the others; examining each one of their faces before settling on Hikari, anger briefly flashed over him before his expression settled into a cocky smirk.

"See? I told you I could do it…" Bastard had managed to get to his feet at this point and staggered toward him, kneeling down on one knee and bowing his head once he reached him.

"So you did, well done my dear Ethan. As promised I will grant you one wish. What is it you desire?" Yamato crossed his arms and lolled his head toward Ethan, disinterest clearly displayed on his face.

"It's quite simple really…my dear wife, I've told you about her right?" Ethan, formerly known as Bastard, began.

"_Extensively."_

"Yes well, I don't really want anything but she is absolutely head over heels in love with Japan…I want it. As a gift for her! I want the whole thing to do with as she pleases, whether that is to rule with grace or burn it to the ground." He cackled out the last few lines.

"Haah…? That's it? I thought you would want something difficult." Yamato blanched.

"What have you done to Yamato? Who are you! And stop prattling on about stupid things like we aren't even here!" Tai barked. He was so angry that his fingers were digging into his palms drawing blood, it made a dripping sound as it hit the ground. He ground his teeth together literally shaking with rage. He had been forced to just _stand there_ as his best friend was impaled and…and…_stolen_. He wasn't going to do nothing any longer.

"Oh don't worry I'm just borrowing his body for a while to regain my former strength. But that and who I am doesn't concern you since you'll all be dead fairly soon." Yamato spoke as if he were talking to a disobedient animal, waving his hand dismissively in Tai's direction.

Tai ran to him, aiming to hit him in the back of the neck and knock him out, only for Yamato to grab his outstretched fist with lightning speed. He gave Tai an angry look of irritation before twisting his fist backwards, forcing Tai to his knees. Tai bit his lip to hold back a cry; he glared angrily at Yamato's soulless red eyes searching them for any sign that he was still in there. "_Sorry buddy." _Tai thought as he brought his free fist up and landed a punch on the side of Yamato's face. Yamato didn't even flinch, remaining perfectly still as Tai's fist made contact, his face didn't move from the force as he stared coldly down at Tai's surprised expression.

"Eager are we? Well I really shouldn't exert myself but you are becoming a nuisance." Yamato spoke in a deathly monotone, lifting Tai off the ground by his hold on Tai's fist and tossing him into Joe. They both rolled to a stop in an undignified heap.

"Little help?" Ethan tugged on Yamato's shirt, exhaustion written all over his face. Yamato sighed and extended his hand covering Ethan's face, his countenance contorted into a look of stern concentration as dark energy swirled around his hand, reforming the dark mask over Ethan's face. Ethan stood as if nothing had ever occurred, pushing the mask so that it rested on the side of his head revealing his face and dusting himself off.

"Happy?" Yamato scoffed.

"Very." Ethan replied.

Tai scowled. Not only was Yamato being possessed by an extremely strong enemy but Bastard was back to full health (Tai refused to call him by his real name). They couldn't win now. This was it, that thing was going to kill them all. But Tai pushed himself to his feet, fierce determination shining from his eyes. "_I'm going_ _down fighting. Yamato would have expected nothing less."_

Koushirou hugged Mimi closer; she had stopped crying now and was staring into nothingness, he wanted to comfort her and tell her it would all be okay but that would be a big fat lie and he knew it.

Takeru watched Tai stand, he could tell what he was thinking without even asking. He looked down at Hikari; she had closed her eyes and stopped shaking a few minutes ago. Joe had gathered all the fallen digimon and laid them down next to where he was holding Hikari and Koushirou was comforting Mimi before going to help Tai. Takeru stared at his lifeless friend Patamon; they all really did look like stuffed animals and nothing more now. He closed his eyes gently kissing Hikari's head and breathing in the smell of her hair. "Hikari?" He questioned, blinking in surprise as she slowly got to her feet; her eyes were half-lidded as she rose and her body glowed with a bright white light.

Tai didn't see this as he went for Yamato screaming out a war cry. Ethan moved to intercept but Yamato held an arm in front of him, shaking his head he stooped down and moved with unnatural speed to meet Tai halfway. He landed a quick uppercut to Tai's chin. Tai flew up as Yamato jumped to meet him, bringing his interlace hands down on Tai's head propelling him back to the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Sora stumbled over, dropping onto all fours before reaching them; she was still crying as Yamato straddled Tai and began unleashing a series of blows to his face. Tai coughed, blood trickling out of his mouth as Yamato grabbed the collar of his orange T-shirt and pulled him towards his face, Tai was bleeding from a gash in his cheek and his left eye was starting to swell.

"Stop…you'll kill him…" Sora choked out, the tears clouded her vision but she could still see dark energy churning around Yamato's upraised fist as he prepared the finishing blow. "Stop…YAMATO STOP!" She cried out at the top of her lungs.

Tai scrunched his eyes closed, bracing himself for the hit. When no blow came he slowly opened his eyes and disbelief graced his features. Yamato's left eye had returned to its original colour, his face was contorted in pain and concentration as his fist shook violently attempting to come crashing down.

"Ge..t…away…pro...tect..So…ra…ple..ase…" Yamato croaked out, every syllable seemed to take enormous effort. Blood began to pour out his recovered eye as the thing fought to regain control. Tai swallowed hard, tears threatening to fall as he nodded his head vigorously.

"Keep fighting Yama, I'm gonna figure this whole thing out. I will save you!" Tai vowed. Though Yamato was clearly in a great deal of pain he managed to smile at his best friend, using all his will power to stand freeing Tai from his grip. At the same moment a bright white light erupted from the direction of the others, Tai whipped his head around to see them all start floating with looks of astonishment before vanishing except for Hikari who floated in the centre with a serene expression, arms reaching out toward him. The light lingered, seeming to call out to him and he knew that this was his only chance. He leapt out of the crater and bodily lifted Sora in his arms.

"Wait! We have to bring Yamato! We can't leave him! WAIT!" She was yelling as Tai lifted her up, she thrashed about in his grasp but he held firm. She looked over his shoulder as he ran toward the light, she saw Yamato staring at them with an incredibly sad smile before his eyes closed, snapping open again with both of them glowing the same dull red.

"WAAAIIIITTTT!" She cried as the light consumed them both and Yamato disappeared from her sight.


	7. Knowledge

Chapter 7: Knowledge

He was floating. Or at least that's what it felt like. Tai opened his eyes; blinking several times as white clouded his vision. He waved his hand in front of his face. "_I'm still in one piece…" _He thought groggily as he closed his eyes against the bright light whilst trying to stand, was he lying down? He couldn't tell. What had he been doing? They had gone to the digital world to escape the ooze and were on their way to a digiport when…! His eyes shot open ignoring the discomfort from the brightness of his surroundings as unpleasant memories flooded into his brain.

"Oh you're awake…thank goodness!" Tai whipped his head around toward the direction of the voice. The white finally started to fade revealing several fuzzy blobs within his line of sight, one of them was walking (or was it gliding?) toward him. Finally features started to fall into place; soft brown hair held back with one single clip, arms adorned in long fusia fingerless gloves extending toward him, tank top half white half the same fusia as the gloves, yellow shorts revealing plenty of leg and pale pink sneakers.

"Hikari! You okay? What is this place, you brought us here right? How'd you do it?" Tai bubbled expectantly as she got closer he reached out to grab her hand but stopping when he looked into her eyes. Her pupils were missing, a faint white glow taking their place.

"You're…who are you? This possession thing is getting really fucking old already! Get out of my sister right now damnit!" He vented as he shook her by the shoulders.

"Ah! Um…sorry! One second!" He stopped when she replied, tears formed on the side of her eyes as she scrunched them shut in concentration. The white around them began to swirl and fade revealing a large room with tatami flooring and paper walls. The room was very sparse with a small tv flickering and buzzing in the corner being the only other focus besides the large black table they were now standing beside. It only came up to Tai's knees and had eight steaming cups of what Tai assumed was green tea waiting to be drunk inside cylindrical off green cups on pale cup holders resting in front of eight flat cushion seats placed around the table. His examination ended when he spotted his team lying in various positions along the great empty expanse of the room, his attention was recaptured by Hikari as her chest began to glow. A misty light poured out of her, it was so bright Tai was forced to close his eyes _again_.

"They're fine by the way, the trip was a little bit bumpier then I had hoped so you all slept for a while aheh…" Tai's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at the new face. Things could get weirder he supposed, though he couldn't quite think of _how_ at the moment. For all intents and purposes this newcomer looked perfectly normal if you discounted her pure white hair which cascaded down her shoulders forming large pools at her feet and lack of pupils. Her face was small and heart shaped. Her skin was a pearly white, almost translucent. The thin white dress she wore stopped before her knees; it was very plain but did accentuate her boyish frame. Tai thought she looked about 16 or 17 "_Bet a million to one she's waaaaay older." _ He contemplated. She um'ed and ah'ed, seemingly waiting for him to start the impending conversation, twisting her dress between fingers crumpling it.

Tai chose to completely ignore her for the moment as the others, excluding Hikari, slowly got to their feet. Koushirou helped Mimi up; she clung to his hand like it was the only thing holding her together not even bothering to check out the new surroundings, just staring forward vacantly as Koushirou helped her sit on one of the cushions. Joe groaned, shaking his head he sat at the table as though nothing had happened and took a sip of the tea. Takeru was lifting Hikari into his arms bridle style, glaring at the new girl with unhidden rage emanating from his usual carefree demeanour. Sora was lying on the floor still, Tai could tell she wasn't sleeping any more but she made no move to get up.

"What did you do to Hikari, if I don't like your answer I can't be held responsible for what I might do." Takeru seethed through clenched teeth. Takeru had never been very good at dealing with being upset; Tai could tell that even though he meant what he said he was just trying to control the fear and crippling sadness he was feeling at the loss of his brother and possible loss of Hikari, focusing all his energy on being angry.

The girl looked truly afraid at his comment, rapidly waving her arms in front of her face as she spoke. "She's fine! I had to use her because I…um…can't leave this place without a container and she…um…holds my attribute, it might have hurt her head a little when I was establishing the connection-"

"A little!" Takeru burst.

"-but it won't hurt her any more I swear! She just…uh…needs some rest!"

Tai sighed, this girl was obviously telling the truth and she _had_ saved them. He sat down roughly at the table, propping one knee up and draping his arm over it he motioned for her to take the seat directly opposite him. Takeru flanked him on his left, cradling Hikari in his arms. Sora stood slowly, saying nothing she sat down on Tai's right.

"Sit. Talk." Tai commanded. The girl ran over, almost tripping on thin air before sitting down rapidly on her knees and fidgeting with her dress under the table.

"Ok…um…where should I start?" She mumbled. Tai hit the table with his fist, causing the tea to fly out of the cups before landing inside them again.

"The beginning." He spoke with annoyance thick in his voice and on his countenance.

"Um…sure! I'm…um…you can call me Shin! I'm…well… I'm the core of this world."

"What? That's ridiculous; this world was created from man's excess data." Koushirou argued.

"Yes that's exactly right…um…I am everything that's good in the digital world! Where we are right now is…uh…technically the centre of the digital world, this space was created for me so I…um…could leak out to the rest of the world. I give life and colour to the trees, the land, the fish and the digimon!" She babbled.

"I see. You're saying you act as the hard drive for the whole digital world. But why do you have that appearance?" Koushirou pestered further.

"Ah…um…well I'm not entirely sure about that. I am me…um…and I am not." She stammered out.

"Oh thanks that cleared everything right up." Tai said sarcastically.

"Yes…well I'm sorry I can't be more clear about that…to my knowledge I've always been. I am here in this form but I am also all around the digital world." She responded, seemingly unfazed.

"Like a starter programme." Koushirou mused.

"I suppose…um…but not just me. You know how…uh…there is good and evil in the digital world? Well if you can think of me as "the good bits" then there…uh…has to be bad bits. The other side of the coin…uh…the other "me". You've already met her…my twin Zui…I'm afraid she took your friend." She stated the last part sadly, as though she herself had committed the crime.

"You mean that…_thing_ that took Yamato?" Tai rumbled in a low voice.

"The very same, if there is light there is dark. She has always been just the same as I." She answered.

"Wait, if you guy's have always been why didn't we run into you before? Why wasn't the world suffering from this Zui's influence in the first place?" Joe queried.

"It was! The digimon you encountered…uh…all of their evil stemmed from her. Just as I leak into the world from here she to had her dwelling place. She was…um…confined to a cave…um…the one you and your friend encountered." She addressed Sora who responded in an almost hysterical tone "We conquered it! The darkness in there was a manifestation of our own inner fears and doubts! We beat it!"

The girl shrank away from Sora's outburst but replied all the same. "Yes you did. But do you…uh…do you remember what happened to it?"

Sora faltered, she shook with emotion and bit her lower lip. "It dissipated into the cave."

"Exactly…um…the dark feelings of your friend let him enter a place humans never should have gone. She…uh…used your human influence, your…um…um…human 'data' to access the outside world." When they gave her blank stares she flustered about before pointing at the flickering tv. "See that? She has one too…um…we are both effectively sealed within these domains so…um…these are our only access to the world we essentially created. I watched all of you during your adventures!" She clapped her hands gleefully at that before carrying on "But this thing should…uh…only be able to view the digital world. When you guys left I couldn't see you anymore. Unfortunately…um…because of the energy you gave Zui she was…uh…able to access your world as well. Now these terminals…um…usually only allow us to watch but…uh…do you remember that last fight with Piedmon?" She asked.

"Of course, how could we possibly forget?" Joe complained.

"Well…Tai you were heavily injured…um…then Yamato came and saved you right? What you didn't know was I helped him do it."

"What? Yamato saved me through the power of his crest!" Tai exclaimed.

"Yes…but I am very much attached to you all so…um…when you were hurt I focused everything I had into the terminal…uh…giving his crest a…um…boost." Tai blanched at her reply. Koushirou hummed into his hand, excepting it as a possibility.

"So what you are saying is you can influence this world directly with your own will if you give it everything you have? Interesting…" Koushirou commented.

She smiled at him apparently taking it as a compliment. Her smile soon fell as she started speaking again. "Yes but I'm afraid this is what Zui used…when you saw her she was in a base state correct? Well that must have been…uh…because she made contact with someone in the…um…'real' world and gave them some of her power…uh…I believe you called him Bastard? Through him she…uh…conspired to bring you back…um…I think she holds your friend Yamato in high regard."

"High regard! Did you not _see_ what she did to him? With him!" Sora yelled. Tai placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "It's ok Sora…let her finish." He soothed. She worried her lip more and crossed her arms but said nothing else.

Shin, who had started to panic at Sora's rage, settled down and continued. "What I mean is…she wanted him. Um…I believe she thinks of him as a…uh…saviour of sorts. You see we are the core of this world but…um…we don't get to enjoy it. We are trapped, I can never leave here. The only way would be if I…uh…stole Hikari's body…um…I would have to make physical contact with her…um…what I did before can't really compare. She has a strong affinity with me…um…her power of light is really quite impressive…uh…but if I did this it would drain her both physically and mentally. This is what has happened to Yamato…if you will recall Zui couldn't even begin to manifest herself in the world until Sora's hand was cut…um…that was the physical connection."

"What about the liquid? What did it do to my hand, to the digimon?" Koushirou interrupted.

"Oh yes…ah…the substance you encountered is what she has been using to pollute this world…it's um…an extension of herself." Shin reported.

"I thought you said she was bound to that cave." Joe observed.

"Ah…well…the energy you gave her at that time…I believe it allowed her powers to develop further…a…um…upgrade. The liquid is all the digimon, colour and life of this world…basically all of my contribution…she has converted the data to…uh…suit her purposes…um…everything it touches feeds her data…um…making her more powerful. But…um…I can help you a little." Shin replied.

"Palmon was taken…Palmon was killed." Mimi whispered in an almost too quiet to be heard voice. Koushirou looked at her sadly and squeezed her hand under the table.

"Killed? Oh goodness no!" Shin spoke, Mimi gaped at her in astonishment. "She has been converted into…um…energy for Zui but her data remains undamaged…um…if you defeat Zui and…uh…send her back to the cave all the digimon will return-" She was interrupted by Mimi's squeal of delight as she jumped up and down, life and laughter returning to her eyes. She grabbed Koushirou's hands and pulled him up, dragging him into a twirl as she giggled excitedly. "Palmon's alive!" She pulled Koushirou forward into, to the others and his own surprise, a completely unexpected kiss. His whole face turned red as she turned away from him and hopped around the table. Joe slammed his face into the table mumbling incoherent complaints to himself.

"-to where they were taken. But there is a catch." Shin continued, Mimi hurriedly returned to her seat, worry once again plainly scrawled across her features. "As soon as Zui is defeated the digimon will be returned to their original forms, after that they will…um…again dissolve into data and…uh…loose their memories. A kind of automatic reset."

"What! Palmon will…forget me?" Mimi whimpered.

"Not necessarily! You do have a chance…um…you will have to wait in the area she was taken…uh…and once she reforms remove her from the data stream. Uh…the data stream will be a…um…pillar of light. Just…uh…pull her out." Shin instructed.

"Then that's what we will do! Right Koushi~" Mimi gushed. Koushirou laughed slightly at the use of his nickname, but nodded in agreement.

"Okay then Shin tell us how to beat her. How do we get her out of Yamato without killing him?" Tai asked.

"Ah…um…you won't have to worry about that. Once Zui has taken enough energy to physically manifest herself in the real world with…uh…her appearance and powers intact she will leave him on her own." Shin responded. Sora perked up at this before demanding "Really? She will let him go?"

Shin looked surprised at Sora's question before nodding her head sadly. "I'm really sorry but…no. She…um…won't be possessing him any more but…well…she'll have control."

"Control?" Tai repeated.

Shin sighed. "Any wound she makes…she'll have the power to fix them…but adversely…" Shin looked up forlornly as understanding rippled around the table. "Not only physical ones either. She'll have a choice before she leaves his body…um…to leave his mind alone or…take over. He'll become a puppet…with no free will of his own."

Sora felt the droplets of tears hitting her hands. This situation was _so messed up_. They should have been able to do something! It wasn't fair…they had finally expressed their feelings to one another. It simply wasn't fair. She glanced at Takeru, his hat hung over his eyes and he had shoved his face into Hikari's hair to conceal his pain from view.

"How long? How much time do we have before she finishes?" Tai asked. He was obviously holding back his emotions, curling his hands into fists and straining his neck in order to push them back.

Shin spoke miserably "I'd be surprised if she wasn't finished within the next few hours."

Silence reigned for several minutes that felt like hours before Koushirou spoke. "You said you could help our digimon." He motioned to their still forms.

"Ah…only a little…um…I can't fix them yet. My powers have dwindled significantly thanks to Zui…it took everything I had to get you here. But I can help! But for that I need Hikari." Shin replied.

Takeru hugged Hikari closer to himself protectively, her eyes fluttered open at the feel and she sluggishly reached her hand up to caress his face. He looked surprised for a moment at her smile before breaking down. He never could keep anything from her. She threw her arms around his neck as he began openly sobbing, clutching her shirt and hair almost painfully as he did so. She hushed him while the others looked away to save his dignity, stroking his hair and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. His breathing hitched a few times before he brought himself under control, pulling away from her and managing a small smile in response to her own.

Sora had drawn blood from her lip at this point. She wanted to cry too, hell she was crying, but the one she wanted to hold her wasn't here. A new flame of hatred and resolve burned behind her reddish/brown eyes as she internally vowed to save him. She would never give up, no matter how hopeless it seemed. She locked eyes with Tai; equal resolve could be seen within his chocolate brown orbs. They could do it. They WOULD do it. The pain wouldn't leave her alone but she would plough on until her goal was met, no more crying until she could do so in Yamato's arms.

"You're awake…heh…sorry about that connection thing…um…it was the only thing I could think of…I wish I could have established it the first time you came back but…uh…I couldn't find you all very easily…um…it took a little while to locate you each time." Shin fussed. Hikari held a hand up to stop her excuses; Takeru had regained his composure and now sat with Hikari on his lap and his arms wrapped loosely around her waist.

"I heard it all. It was quite a strange sensation since I couldn't move my body but I understand you did what was needed. In fact I feel I should be thanking you for saving us." Hikari smiled, turning her hand palm up toward Shin. "Hi I'm Hikari. Thank you for saving me and my friends." The others nodded there assents and gave thanks of their own.

Shin blubbered, shaking her head from side to side. "No no! I didn't do anything special…ahaha…" She scratched her face absently while shaking Hikari's hand.

"What Zui has done to your partners is akin to storing data. She has basically placed a lock on them, forcing them into a dormant state. It seems to work a bit differently with humans but I don't really know why. While I don't currently have enough power to restore them completely I can, with Hikari's help, convert the data into something usable. Hikari will have to have strong feelings toward the digimon's owners in order for it to work. I believe Tai and Takeru are the only ones who fit the bill strongly enough." Shin spoke with more confidence after Hikari's friendly gesture.

"But I want to help! You can't mean to say I'm useless?" Sora uttered.

Shin shook her head vigorously. "No! You won't be able to fight but you are very important to Yamato! I could see it when he saved you…that bond could be the only thing that gets through to him. Even if he is under Zui's control I believe that you, with the help of his and your friends, can liberate him from her." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I thought it would be impossible at first. When Zui had taken over his body I assumed he would be lost forever. But you stopped him! I could hardly believe it but thanks to your words he fought against her and regained control for a brief time allowing Tai to escape. That should have been impossible…I can't imagine how strong his will to save you must be."

Sora breathed deeply. Closing her eyes, remembering how he had looked at her just before she had been whisked away, she knew in heart he was still fighting.

"Tell me what to do." Hikari requested.

* * *

"Now I am not really one for politics, my wife isn't either. I was thinking more of a dictatorship! I want to launch a full blown invasion!" Ethan chuckled happily as he paced the room, making exaggerated movements with his arms.

Yamato, or rather Zui, watched his antics with a fair amount of irritation. "_That pesky Shin sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, I guess it doesn't matter nothing she does can stop me now. I have what I wanted." _ He was sitting on a rather ornate chair in the centre of the room, the only item there beside a flat screen television taking up the whole of the wall behind him. The carpet was a plush, purple velvet affair. The entire wall on his left side was windows showing the lights of a bustling city below, they were apparently in a tall building in the middle of Tokyo. Zui rested his elbow on the armrest, propping his head up with his right hand and crossing his legs. His left hand thrummed a steady rhythm on the opposing armrest. His dark red eyes flared in overwhelming irritation as Ethan went on and on, the skin beneath his eyes had sunken creating dark semi-circles and blood was still caked into his clothes.

"Um…Zui? Did I tell you just how happy it makes me to finally know your name?" Ethan gushed.

"Yes…about a thousand times. I have an _excellent_ idea. Why don't you go and get me some new clothes hmmm? I believe I need a shower." Zui spoke in a very demeaning tone but Ethan paid it no heed.

"Yes yes of course Zui how rude of me! Feel free to use the facilities, everything I have is yours! But please don't enter my room, my wife just fell asleep." Ethan prattled happily as he donned his hat and coat and exited the apartment.

Zui sighed, running his hands through his golden tresses. "Won't you talk to me? You're mad now but I promise it will get better. I know it hurts but just endure it a little longer, I would think you would be happy you're helping me start fresh…"

Silence echoed through the apartment as he made for the shower, anger laced his voice as he spoke aloud to himself once again. "I knew I should have got rid of her…but it's ok. Just you wait my lovely Yamato, I have a wonderful part for you to play and once you complete it you will truly be mine. Body and soul."


	8. Prepare

Chapter 8: Prepare

"Like this?"

"No…palms down. Yes, like that. Now I need you to concentrate."

Hikari was listening intently to Shin's instructions, she wasn't sure if she could do what Shin was asking but she was going to try her best. Tai knelt opposite her; his arms were beginning to tire from being held out for so long with Hikari's hands hovering over them. Lying on a soft pillow between them was Koromon, still the dull grey and being perfectly still.

"I'm really sorry…I should have realised it when Tai barrelled into me. It's all me fault." Joe lamented in the corner, his knees were drawn up to his chin and he hugged them with his arms. After Shin's explanation they had gathered up the digimon and laid them out on the pillows, only Tsunomon was nowhere to be found. It was then that Joe remembered he had been retrieving him when Bastard threw Tai at him, in Joe's shock at the time he hadn't realised Tsunomon had been thrown too far from the others to be caught up in Shin's transportation.

"It's ok Joe I'm sure he is still there, Mimi and I will look after him while we wait for Palmon ok?" Koushirou offered trying to alleviate some of Joe's guilt; Joe only nodded glumly in reply.

Sora, Takeru and Mimi sat in a semicircle around Tai, Hikari and Shin. Sora had been watching with immense interest at first but now she was becoming impatient; she didn't blame Hikari though, Shin's explanations were hard to understand.

"It's really very simple! All you have to do is turn yourself into liquid, pour out of your palms and think only about Tai. I'll do the rest." Shin bubbled happily; none of them had any idea about the liquid part.

"Do I physically change? Or is it just a feeling?" Hikari questioned further. Shin cocked her head to the side with a perplexed expression; completing her apparent thought process by popping her fist into her left hand.

"No not physical, just pour it all out. For me it's kinda like _whoosh_." Shin revealed.

"Whoosh?" Everyone except Koushirou blanched exasperation evident on their faces.

"I think what she is trying to say is that you should focus all your feelings toward Tai into your hands and transfer, or 'pour', it to him through the small space between you." Koushirou clarified.

Hikari looked at him thankfully, she still wasn't entirely sure but the way he had put it made it sound easier. She scrunched up her face in concentration and focused on the link between them and her feelings for Tai. A faint pink glow began to surface at the base of her palm; Shin bopped happily and crossed her arms over Tai and Hikari's, she giggled as the light from Hikari intensified and shot out, hitting Tai's outstretched palms before dispersing and showering over Koromon.

Hikari smiled joyously, it was working! She grunted when, without warning, it no longer felt like she was giving the light but more like something was tugging it out of her.

Tai looked up at her apologetically, he wished he could be contributing more to this rather then putting the entire burden on his little sister, but they needed something to combat their new foe.

Koromon started to glow a mixture of orange, pink and white. His body began to twist as his data morphed and stretched. Everyone watched unable to look away as his body elongated until it was about 55 inches long, the light exploded abruptly revealing a sheathed claymore. The sheath was brown with yellow string crisscrossed over it and the hilt was a dark orange, with the symbols of courage and light carved on either side. Tai stared in fascination as Shin lifted it with obvious trouble and held it out to him.

"Here you go! The form the digimon took should be the most compatible with you! There's even better news though, just try wielding it!" Shin gushed.

Tai nodded lamely at her, his jaw was still hanging open since he still hadn't quite regained his wits. She did say they were converting the data but…he hadn't expected this. He grasped the hilt, standing up he pulled the sheath off gingerly and held up the blade for inspection. It was bright silver and if he tilted it he could see the almost transparent design of a flame within its steel.

"_Tai…? What's going on?"_ Tai jumped causing the others to give him questioning looks. "Koromon?" They gasped as he spoke; Tai's formerly confused features smoothed out into one of his trademark grins.

"Koromon! Boy am I glad to hear the sound of your voice again! Are you feeling ok it didn't hurt did it?" Tai asked.

"_Umm…no it doesn't hurt but I feel different. I can't move. And something's REALLY off…I'm not hungry." _ Tai laughed heartily at his friend's foolish distress. The others were still giving him strange looks so he grinned at them, holding out the sword. "Can't you hear him? Koromon's ok!"

"No they can't, the only one who can speak openly with the digimon when they are in this form is their partner. What you are hearing is Koromon speaking directly through the link you share." Shin explained. Tai clucked his tongue in response, addressing the others as he spoke. "Well he's fine, a bit concerned that he isn't hungry!"

Mimi and Hikari joined Tai in a gleeful laugh at his remark. "_I don't really get it but if we get to fight together I'm all fired up!" _ Koromon remarked to Tai, if it was possible Tai's grin spread even wider as he made a swipe through the air.

"Ok next is Takeru, then I will teach you both about invoking." Shin stated. Tai and Takeru exchanged a puzzled look as Takeru placed Patamon on the cushion previously used by Koromon and extended his arms in the same fashion Tai had used.

* * *

Bright lights flashed and buzzed throughout bustling Shinjuku, people crowded the streets fighting against the many crowds to return home after a hard day's work. None noticed the three people standing aloft atop one of the many tall skyscraper buildings, if they had they would have thought nothing of it, odd things happened almost everyday in this busy city.

Zui fiddled with a strand of her short, cropped raven hair. After finally being able to maintain a body of her own she had realised that the extraordinarily long hair she used to possess was incredibly inconvenient and had chopped it into a more acceptable length, but now she vaguely missed the feel of it against her back. Her face was identical to Shin's, only her eyes glowing a dull red instead of a shimmering white. Her body, however, couldn't have been more different. Her curvaceous form was clad within a dark purple flowing dress which frilled out just barely extending past her generous hips. The dress was held up by two thick black ribbons curving over her ample bosom and meeting in a chunky collar around her neck. The black knee high boots she wore were laced with a deep purple ribbon.

"So let me get this straight, you haven't announced yourself or sent any demands. Are you sure this is how you want to go about things? I thought you wanted this land as a so called 'gift'" She haughtily addressed Ethan who had propped his leg up onto ledge of the roof they occupied and was smirking down at the regular commotion below.

"Oh well yes but…this is a bit more for me you see. I'm really not very good with people, my wife's more of a people person then me, so I'm really not quite sure how I would handle being a dictator. It truly is frustrating." Ethan replied.

Zui pursed her lips in frustration. It truly was frustrating, this _idiot_ had helped her immensely so she really did want to grant him one wish, but he couldn't seem to make up his mind! The first thing he asks for is a whole country but now he wasn't even sure if he wanted that and even if he _did_ he didn't know how he wanted to go about it. Zui pinched the bridge of her nose and tapped her foot angrily; this whole thing was beginning to give her a headache. She had no idea how this world worked, she had known what Japan was when Bastard had asked for it only because he had told her about it. She assumed it was just like the digital world where all she would need to do is suck the life out of it, but noooo it was this huge place chock full of people that Bastard couldn't decide what to do with.

"Let's just get this over with, I have things I need to do." She stated, closing her eyes and folding her hands in front of her, the air around her crackled with dark electric volts buzzing and whizzing about her form. Her eyes snapped open and a large dark bubble flew out from her, engulfing the whole of Shinjuku making it impossible to see the city from outside the dome. She took a few deep breaths, it had been a bit harder to create this space then she had anticipated. Ethan made to help her steady herself but she waved him off, instead snapping her fingers.

Yamato, who had been standing motionless staring off into nothing until this point, was now swiftly closing the space between them and lifting her into his arms. She beamed, cooing happily as she draped her arms around his neck twirling a strand of his hair between her fingers and resting her head on his shoulders. He remained staring ahead, his eyes a glassy shadow of their former selves. His blood covered shirt had been replaced with a simple black button up T-shirt and his black jeans had been swapped for deep blue ones.

"Ahhh to be young again, I believe I should leave you two alone seeing that I have a party to attend. You sure you won't join me Zui?" Ethan enquired, turning his gaze back down to the world below which had began to try and figure out what had happened to their city.

"No. I'm waiting for a party of my own. They should be here fairly soon…it'll be _fun._" Her tone was dark and foreboding, Ethan shuddered a little. He loved it when she spoke like that, he couldn't believe how lucky he had been to find her. She had liberated him from his humdrum existence allowing him to become what he had always wished he would be.

Below people were avidly discussing what could be going on, many had produced their phones and cameras to take pictures of the strange new addition to the sky. A small male child clung to the hem of his mother's skirt, tears filling his eyes as something landed on the ground before them creating a deep indentation, whipping up a cloud of dust and debris. A man approached the crater cautiously, peering over the side he looked unbelieving for a split second before his head separated from his body, blood spewed out of the open wound and rained on several people close by. Before they could scream a black blur shot past them, their bodies fell apart into several pieces flying through the air splashing blood onto others and thudding against them. The boy stared numbly at the man who stood before him; the man was ripping his mother's heart out with his bare hands. She fell to the floor in front of the boy curling up on herself. Ethan stooped down to the boy's level, absently digging his fingers into his new prize. He broke into a feral grin as the boy cried out.

"Smile…it's a fiesta!" Ethan announced gleefully before running a sharply curved dagger upwards through the boys eye.

* * *

"Alright again!"

"Wait Tai don't go that way! I don't want to hit the building!"

Tai obeyed Takeru's command and doubled back, they were practicing in the large zen garden adjacent to Shin's home. Takeru sighed and lowered his weapon.

"_T.K what's the matter? You want to take a break?" _ Patamon tried to comfort his partner who merely shook his head and began firing again.

Sora sat on the porch watching their progress. Shortly after completing Takeru's weapon Hikari had collapsed, he had caught her before she hit the floor and Shin had assured them all that all she needed was some more rest. Mimi and Koushirou had already gone back to the site Palmon had been taken to see if they could find Tsunomon and wait for Palmon's return. Joe had remained inside to tend to Hikari and the other digimon when Shin had shown them to the garden. Sora thought back on Shin's explanation…

"_Now that you have your weapons all you have to do is activate them, much like digivolution. When you manage to activate them all your skills will be upgraded for a short time. You should be able to exhibit all of the potential strength and speed your digimon have." Shin said, she continued when she saw they understood. "All you need to do is use your digivices just as before, just hold them against your weapons and they will fuse." _

_Tai and Takeru did as they were told; the bright light of evolution consumed them and their weapons. Tai looked astonished as he examined the weapons new form. The blades edge flared with deep orange flames, the hilt had fused with his digivice and a thick orange ribbon coming from it had flowed along both his arms to attach to a newly formed shield that had been place in his left hand. It was a miniature version of Wargreymon's giant one._

_Takeru was examining his weapon with approval. When it had formed it was a small brown bow barely bigger then his arm, now it reached just past his waist when he prepared to fire; it was the same colour as patamon's fur and had large golden feathers flaring out on either end. Each of the three feathers on the top of the bow held a symbol for hope and the three feathers on the bottom the one for light. The section he held had his digivice adsorbed into a small nook below his hand, a thick gold rope extended from it and was wrapped around his forearm tightly. His other hand was wearing a rich golden glove which looked as though it had been stuffed with feathers at the wrist._

_Tai and Takeru looked at each other, they could both feel that it wasn't just physical appearance that had changed. They jumped away from each other with inhuman speed, facing off across the expanse of the garden. Tai felt strength flood through his arms and he tossed Takeru a playful smirk. Takeru felt exceptionally light and returned the look. _

"_Care to try these out?" Tai baited. _

"_It would be my pleasure." Takeru responded. _

Sora watched with envy as Takeru and Tai zipped around the garden, they were almost moving too fast for her to follow. Takeru's glove was able to produce arrows of pure energy and he was firing them in quick succession at Tai how cut each one down with strikes and stabs from his sword. "_I guess Patamon and Koromon are helping a lot just as Shin said." _ She mused as she reflected on how Shin had explained that their digimon were going to instruct them on how to move during battle since just because they had new weapons it didn't mean they were experts at fighting.

"They are doing really well." Sora stopped following their movements to glance at Shin who sat down beside her.

"Yeah I knew they wouldn't have much trouble." Sora replied, her tone was mainly proud but it carried a hint of disappointment. Shin smiled understandingly at her.

"I came out here to get you all…it's time for you to go back. Zui's begun to move." Shin spoke

Sora turned her head to her as a questioned danced out. "How do you know? I thought you said you couldn't see the real world."

Shin tilted her head towards her before speaking. "I couldn't. I can only see into it when I have a human influence, thanks to you all being here I can see…that's why Joe has offered to remain."

Sora raised her eyebrows at that. Shin just carried on. "If he stays here I can open up a portal for you to return and be able to open it again to let you get back once you complete your mission. After that you can all leave…" Shin looked sadly to her hands.

"We can come to visit you know!" Sora tried to comfort the poor girl but Shin shook her head.

"No you can't. I would have to establish a connection with Hikari again…I don't think her mind could take it if I did that too many times even if she knew what was happening. But that's ok! Meeting you all is a dream come true by itself!" Shin quickly tried to sound more upbeat when she noticed Sora start to look upset.

"I'm sorry Shin…but we should talk to Tai and Takeru now, we need to go right away I don't want to leave Yamato with Zui any longer then necessary." Sora said as she lifted herself up. Shin grabbed her wrist causing her to turn back; Shin had shaded the top of her face with her hair hiding her expression from Sora's view.

"Wait…I came to you first because I wanted to speak with you. Zui…she isn't really all that evil." Shin bit her lip and fidgeted uncomfortably when Sora's sympathetic look turned to rage. "Hear me out! Zui…she's just like me. She doesn't know why she was made…her fate is worse then mine. I'm praised and loved, she's always been despised. Really her base emotions are more like a spoilt child; angry with the world because of what she is…she was trapped in that dark cave all alone for an eternity. When you and Yamato gave her the power to escape I think she clung to him…her only light in a dark and cruel world. I know you have to seal her again just…don't hate her okay?" Shin's voice almost cracked as she let out the last few lines.

Sora knelt down to Shin's level and cupped her head with her hands. "I'm sorry Shin but that's a big ask. I don't know if I can…she has done some terrible things and I don't believe anyone who can do that is all that innocent. Zui must pay for her crimes but…I promise I will try to see it from your point of view." Shin smiled; wiping away her tears she fluttered to her feet and called out to Tai and Takeru who deactivated their weapons to follow her back inside where Shin directed their attention to the tv. All they could see was a large black dome.

"That's Zui's work, I don't know what she is planning to do in there but I can get you in." Shin waved her hand in front of the screen producing a faint white light. Hikari had woken up and was now clasping Takeru's hand, Sora and Tai faced the screen. They all bid Shin and Joe goodbye before Tai extended his digivice toward the terminal.

"_Wait for us Yamato…we are coming for you!" _ Sora thought as they were transported to their new destination.


	9. Encounter

Chapter 9: Encounter

"He's really not anywhere, do you thing he got sucked up?"

"It's an unfortunate probability; we will have to make sure to pull him out as well if that is the case." Koushirou answered Mimi's question as she wandered about the battlefield, checking crevices and cracks in the ground for any sign of Tsunomon.

Koushirou was typing away intently on his laptop, he had been able to return to Yamato's apartment with Shin's help to pick up some food and supplies for him and Mimi because they had no idea how long it would take for the others to defeat Zui. He was truly grateful to have the technology sitting back in its rightful place on his lap; he had honestly felt quite naked without it, like an important piece of him was missing. He had wanted to analyse the liquid data they had been facing but it was impossible since the ooze was no longer flowing out of the cracks in the ground. He had attempted to peer down to check if the substance was just lying dormant but had been unable to see very far into the depths so had instead decided to use his time to try and unlock the apparent seal on Motimon. He hadn't felt right leaving him behind and he wanted to try his hand at a solution so he had brought him along.

From the explanation Shin had given he was sure there must be some way to hack the problem. To this end he had repeatedly scanned Motimon's data and tried several debugging techniques, most proved futile but his latest attempt was promising so far.

Mimi cast him a sideways look, lacing her hands together behind her back and kicking the ground in boredom she made her way over. She leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen, he felt her hair lightly brush his cheek but he didn't turn from his task.

"Any luck yet?" She queried.

"Not yet but this recent programme just might work." He replied in monotone.

"Can I help?"

"Yes you can. Give me some space."

Mimi started pouting; placing her hands on her hips she straightened up with a huff and glared at the back of his head. He felt a shiver go up his spine as he suddenly realised he had made a BIG mistake.

"Well sooorrry for disturbing you! I know it's really important so I only wanted to help! I'm not completely clueless any more you know. I can work my computer with no help at all! Stupid Koushi!" She threw her hands up in her frustration, she knew she sounded childish and selfish but she simply couldn't take it any more. She had been letting him type away on that stupid computer for what felt like hours now in complete silence. It was awful here. In her search for Tsunomon she had gathered up the courage to check the crater Yamato and Tai had created during their fight and had seen the droplets of dried blood smeared into the earth as a result.

Koushirou grimaced as he slowly turned his head around to confront her but paused when he saw the look of cheerless contemplation she was now sporting. He sighed; placing the laptop on the ground he rose up off the floor and dusted himself off. She was still in her own little world when he brought her into a slightly awkward hug, he didn't seem quite sure how to go about it as he gingerly wrapped his arms around her. She looked at him in stunned surprise for a moment before flinging her arms around him and pulling his head down to her chest, he flailed in shock as she spun them both around releasing a heartfelt giggle.

"Oh Koushi I knew you cared! I'm sorry I won't bug you any more!" She stopped spinning and placed her hands on his shoulders to steady him since for him the world was still spinning.

"When we get back lets go to the beach together with everyone! Of course that includes the digimon too! You can even bring your laptop. Sora and I will make a picnic, oh Yamato can help too since he's good with food! We'll have to make a whole bunch…Tai will carry it! Of course we will have to be sure the beach is deserted first, maybe we can do it here in the digital world! It'll be so much fun." Mimi bubbled never taking her hands off his shoulders.

Koushirou looked at her in astonishment as she continued to make plans. For some reason he couldn't stop staring at her lips. His face slowly changed to a shade of red as he remembered what she had done at Shin's place. They had been really soft and tasted of strawberry lip balm. She didn't seem to notice his nervous gaze.

"Yeah! We should definitely do that!" He blurted out when he noticed she had stopped talking. He blushed profusely when he realised she hadn't been talking for a _while _now and he hadn't even noticed. Her eyes were half lidded in a knowing and incredibly seductive glare, her lips were partly open and curled into a small smirk.

He wondered how she had figured out that he had a small crush on her…well small is an exceptionally inaccurate word for it. At first he hadn't really known what his feelings meant, after all he was quite introverted when they first went to the digital world and to him she had seemed spoilt and immature. But as they spent more time together he had subconsciously begun to watch her and begin to admire her, not only for her beauty but for her convictions.

She broke him out of his reverie by kissing him ever so gently, he really had no idea how to react in these situations but he certainly enjoyed them. She parted from him with a joyous smile at the obvious enjoyment written on his face. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand self-consciously when she whipped him around and sat him back down in front of the laptop.

"Now now there's work to be done! Plenty of time for _that_ sort of thing later~" She spewed as she set him down.

"You started it!" He stuttered in embarrassment as his brain went into overdrive trying to process what _that_ had meant. He blushed again when several possibilities presented themselves and he hurriedly began typing. She sat quietly behind him watching him get back to work when he stopped; she looked at him curiously as he looked over his shoulder with embarrassment still evident on his face.

"If you want I…I…won't use the laptop when we go to the beach…I'll…um… just hang out with you." He turned his head back quickly after he had got it all out. She blinked in pleasant surprise before an enormous smile spread across her face and she grasped him from behind in a massive bear hug.

"Oh Koushi~! You can be really romantic too!"

"Mi-! Mimi stop you'll damage the laptop! Mimi!"

* * *

"Tai…would you kindly get you foot out of my face?"

"Sure Sora I would love to if Takeru would get off my back…literally!"

"Tai you act as if I'm doing it on purpose." Takeru said as Hikari helped him off of Tai and Sora, they had tumbled through the portal even more roughly then usual and ended up landing in an incredibly uncomfortable heap as a result. Shin had warned them it might happen due the difficulty of getting a portal to open inside the barrier Zui had created.

Tai stretched out his back and took in his surrounds. It looked like they had entered an electronics store. Various technological gadgets covered the walls and several stalls within the large complex. Though the lights were still on there wasn't anyone in the store. Tai moved forward cautiously, watching their reflections on the many television and computer screens which flanked their path. He stopped when he came across the service desk, the register was lying on the floor in front of them and a stand that used to hold different phone covers was now on its side with its contents scattered across the desk and floor, it looked like someone had knocked it down in a hasty retreat. Tai frowned as he got closer and spotted a pool of dark liquid seeping out from behind the desk. He held his arm out to stop the others from following as he made his way over, his breath caught in his throat as he peered over the counter and spotted the missing staff worker.

From what Tai could see the person had been female, though their face had been smashed beyond recognition. An indentation near the head showed Tai where her face had been destroyed by repeatedly hitting it into the white tiled floor. Blood was soaked into her hair and pooled around her head, glowing in stark contrast to the white floor. He covered his mouth with his hand to stop from gagging as the reality of what he was seeing sunk in.

"Tai? What is it?" Sora questioned quietly, he spun around still covering his mouth as he dry heaved and she flew to him, patting his back gently as she peered over to see what had caused such a reaction. The blood drained from her face at the sight and she ushered him and the two younger teens away from the area toward the door.

Tai sorted himself out and took the lead, throwing the doors open wide. He stared in disbelief at the sight before him, buildings burned sending sparks and heat up into the air in relentless waves, glass and debris riddled the streets in tall towers and uneven clusters but that's not what shocked him the most.

The streets were littered with bodies, no not bodies…body _parts_. Limbs stuck out of the debris in odd angles; just before him several heads were stacked on top of one another in obscene pyramid that was taller then a full grown man. Men, women…_children_, none were spared. The hollow sockets where their eyes should have been glared at him; what remained of their faces were contorted into vacant expressions of horror, disbelief and…despair.

He heard Hikari vomit behind him and Takeru trying to calm her down. He could smell smoke, sweat and blood all around him. He grasped the hilt of his sword subconsciously, cursing Zui with every fibre of his being for doing this to innocent people. An explosion in the distance drew his and everyone else's attention. Tai grit his teeth as he spotted a human shaped figure gazing at the world below from a building close to them.

"Let's go kick some ass." He declared as he ran forward with his team in toe.

* * *

Ethan rubbed some of the blood on his hand onto his silk red dress shirt. His jacket billowed out behind him when yet another explosion sent a fierce blast of hot air in his direction. He ran a hand through his dark wavy hair and chuckled slightly to himself, all that work to gather those explosives in anticipation for a day like this had certainly paid off. It was incredibly satisfying to cut loose and just _go for it_.

"Isn't it beautiful darling? I made these fireworks just for you." He turned addressing the figure behind him sitting on the same chair Yamato had formerly occupied. Ethan had dragged it through the portal with them when they had arrived, of course thanks to his new abilities it had been as light as air to carry around. He brought it because nothing else would do for his beloved wife; he wanted her to be perfectly comfortable while she watched the havoc unfold. He smiled happily at her, he loved the fact that she refused to take off her wedding dress even though they had been together for so long; the veil and long gloves covered her up completely so he couldn't see her face but he knew she was happy. After all a dutiful husband can always tell!

"Hmmm…?" He reluctantly turned his gaze back to the street below and spotted a few figures heading towards his location. "Survivors…? I know this is a massive city but I'm _sure_ I got the majority. Anyone left should still be hiding." He grabbed the binoculars that were placed on his wife's lap and focused on the approaching group.

"My! Zui said they would be quick but I had hoped they would be a little longer…oh well I'd best let her know." He produced a mobile phone from a pocket within his jacket and proceeded to dial the by now familiar number.

* * *

_Darkness. Swirling, pulsing and pushing down on her. It was suffocating. Her eyes were open but she still couldn't see. Something was calling her…it was getting louder and closer each passing second. Her breathing and heart rate quickened, she didn't like it. _

_**Foolish child…you can never escape your fate. **_

"_I already have!" She screamed into nothingness, the ever present darkness became even more cloying, pulling her further into its depths. Panic coursed through her veins, her eyes darted back and forth trying to see the source of the voice. She began shaking uncontrollably as two impossible large and cold hands grasped her shoulders._

_**You truly are a fool…my adorable little Zui.**_

"YAMATO!" She shot her arm out grabbing at thin air as she bolted out of bed. Small beads of cold sweat rolled down her forehead as she thrashed, panic flowing out of her as she whipped her head about searching for him desperately.

"Yamato! Hold me!" She cried out, he appeared in the doorway at her command and sat on the edge of the bed gripping her torso in a concrete hug. Her previously ragged breathing and fast heart rate smoothed out to a regular tempo as she buried her fingers into the back of his shirt and placed her head against his chest listening to the steady beat of his own heart.

"Thank you." She breathed out shakily as she pulled back to look at his face. His gaze remained fixed straight ahead with no light shining behind his crystal blue orbs. She placed her hands on his cheeks, drawing herself up to lock her eyes with his unresponsive ones. She pursed her lips in frustration. He was here physically, but he only moved when she demanded it. His mind was still his, locked away somewhere she still couldn't reach. She had tried. God how she had tried but he still evaded her. "_It's ok…" _ She assured herself, closing her eyes. "_Once he completes the task he will have no choice but to speak with me." _

She opened them again, examining his emotionless features. She leaned towards him, her lips stopping centimetres from his as the mobile on the side table buzzed. She reached out irritably grabbing the phone and placing it against her ear.

"I swear if this is just you telling me how a damned explosion 'lit up your wife's face with happiness' _again_ I will shove this phone-" She stopped, listening intently to the person on the other end of the line.

"You finally used this thing for what it's for! I'll be there shortly…try not to start without me." She hung up and untangled herself from Yamato's grasp. She got dressed quickly in the corner, donning the only outfit she currently owned before turning to Yamato and dragging him out of the room. She told him to sit as she lifted something cold and hard off the floor.

"I've got something to give you before we go…"

* * *

Mimi stared at the gaping maw of the cave as Koushirou typed unfalteringly behind her. She had become exceptionally bored at this point and was currently giving herself several makeovers in her mind when something in the cave arrested her thoughts. She squinted into the opening…there it was again! Something was moving. Fear crept into her as she tugged at Koushirou's arm with growing urgency.

"What is it Mimi? I'm almost done."

"Something's moving in there!"

He turned around quickly, glaring with a discerning look into the bowels of the cave. When nothing moved he looked at her sympathetically.

"You probably just stared at it for too long. But just in case we should-!" He ceased when he too saw something move, Mimi squealed and scrambled to her feet pulling him with her. He narrowed his eyes trying to discern what it was when a grey nearly translucent object flew toward them, he pushed Mimi violently to the side sending her skidding across the dusty ground as the thing barrelled into him pushing the air out of his lungs and sending him flying backward into Motimon and his laptop.

"Kyaaa!" He shook the stars from his eyes at Mimi's yell and sprang to his feet when he saw what had happened. The translucent thing had coiled around Mimi pulling her toward its main body as it stepped out from the cave. He couldn't make it out very well but it had an ape like shape to it, with very short legs and elongated arms, one of which was now wrapped around Mimi covering her mouth to silence her.

"Mimi!" He knew he couldn't do anything against this new threat without Motimon so he picked up his laptop and desperately tried to finish his programme as quickly as he could. Sweat trickled down his cheek as he put in the last few codes and heard the slopping sound of the creature shuffling toward him.

"Please work!" He cried as he hit the enter key. At first nothing happened causing his heart to drop to the pit of his stomach; then Motimon began to float emitting a bright purple light. He watched with joy as the colour returned to Motimon's body as he plopped on the ground looking around bewilderedly.

"Motimon! Digivolve!" Though Motimon was disorientated he started to glow with the light of evolution all the way up to MegaKabuterimon. The mighty beetle like digimon focused on his enemy, freeing Mimi from its clutches with a swipe from his horn cutting the things arm off, it then dissipated from around Mimi as she fell to the ground.

The creature gave out an odd groaning cry. Its other arm rammed into MegaKabuterimon with enough force to knock the digimon out of the sky, it wrapped its arm around his wings to prevent him from flying up again. MegaKabuterimon twisted his head and plunged his horn into the things gelatinous arm.

"Electro shocker!" The electricity from his attack travelled up the things arm and caused its body to wiggle and pulse. The creature began slamming MegaKabuterimon into the ground repeatedly, the vibrations from this caused Mimi and Koushirou to involuntarily hop with every hit.

"Don't give up!" Koushirou cried in support. MegaKabuterimon jerked his horn back and forth chipping away at the creatures arm until it finally gave. The thing moaned again and slumped forward.

"Yeah! You did it!" Mimi punched the air in victory as MegaKabuterimon got to his feet. Her celebration was short lived as new arms shot out of the things previously empty sockets.

"It really can never be easy can it?" Mimi groaned.

* * *

"It's Bastard, it's got to be!" Tai yelled as they finally reached the tall building. A few of the buildings many windows had been broken, the whole thing was unusually dark with no light to be seen from anywhere within.

Tai and Takeru wasted no time activating their weapons. Sora climbed onto Tai's back and Takeru lifted Hikari with one arm into a sitting position. They all nodded to each other before Tai and Takeru began running up the side of the building, racing with gravity defying speed to the summit.

"Welcome! You're a little earlier then expected…did you like my welcoming gift? I placed them in front of electronic stores all over this city since Zui said they were the most likely place you would show up." Bastard greeted them as Tai and Takeru reached the top and manoeuvred themselves in front of the two girls to face him.

"Gift? That was you? You sick bastard! What the hell did they do to you; there was no reason to hurt them!" Tai accused. He was literally shaking with rage as the horrific image flashed before his eyes again.

"Ah. So you didn't like it. That's to be expected I suppose you are too stupid to comprehend the real value of my works of art. Tsk tsk." Bastard sighed.

"Tai be careful…he's trying to provoke you." Sora whispered into his ear.

"I know. T.K. watch my back." Tai instructed. Takeru nodded and readied his bow.

"You're going to attack me now? Just like that? What if you hit my wife?" Bastard whined.

"Your wife? That's right you mentioned her before…any woman who would marry you must be dangerously insane." Tai jeered.

Bastard's previously merry expression darkened in unhidden rage. "My wife is wonderful. I bet you all want to know how we met!"

"Not even a little." Tai responded as he finally spotted the person Bastard was talking about. He squinted just to see if he was seeing things correctly. Yep, that was definitely a wedding dress. He couldn't see any facial features at all, the thick veil covered her whole face and the dress she wore went all the way up to her chin in a lacy Victorian style collar. The dress itself was a tradition Victorian design and completely encompassed her small frame. He directed his attention back to Bastard when he walked around the back of the chair and placed his hands on its wooden frame.

"It's a brilliant story of love and overcoming obstacles!" Bastard began ignoring Tai completely. "You see there was once a princess; she lived in the room above her prince, for the longest time the prince was unseen by her eyes due to an evil curse but he could see her." He lifted the unresisting woman off the chair and began dancing the waltz. Her head rolled from side to side and he slid her unmoving feet across the floor.

Sora began to feel a foreboding sensation as he continued his odd dance. "He watched her everyday falling deeper and deeper in love with her until one day an evil man came and stole her heart away. On the day she was to be wed to this man the prince came to her rescue! Slaying the man and breaking the spell he took her as his bride and they lived happily ever after!" He finished the story with his hand clasped with hers and a hand around her waist. He brought her down into a low stoop, supporting her weight with his arm. Her head lolled backwards and the veil fell revealing her face to the wary group.

Sora gaped with revulsion feeling Tai and Takeru bristle and Hikari let out a large gasp. Bright white teeth glistened in a permanent grimace. Black sunken holes once containing eyes stared off into the distance, the sunken skin stretched across her face in wrinkly folds and a couple of sparse strands were the only remnants of what must have been a full head of luscious blond hair.

"You really are one hundred percent a cold blooded _bastard._" Tai seethed.

Bastard looked up at him with a dark expression, he put his poor victim back on the seat, lovingly replacing the veil and straitening out her dress. Her turned slowly to face them, glaring beneath his wavy bangs at Tai.

"You know I never really liked you _boy_. You really don't know how to address your betters…" Bastard shifted into a battle stance, drawing two curved daggers from behind his back.

"Thank god. I've seen what you do to the people you like." Tai readied his sword as a strong explosion sounded from the opposite building sending a burst of strong wind at them all blowing through Tai and Bastard's hair as they both charged at each other simultaneously.


	10. Confrontation

Authors note: Ten chapters…wow. Can't believe I have managed to get this far. I want to give a massive thank you to mahwish1 and JyouraSorato for always reviewing and giving me the courage to continue! If it weren't for your reviews I would have continued with the story but I wouldn't have kept posting. It's not over yet muhahaha.

Chapter 10: Confrontation

"_Tai go right! Don't just hit him like that concentrate on blocking and wait for your chance!" _Tai followed MetalGreymon's rumbling voice as closely as he could, blocking and parrying Bastard's quick successive strikes with difficulty.

Tai had realised when he first activated his weapon that the more power he put in the further Koromon's voice evolved. This told him that he could get stronger if need be but so far no matter how he tried MetalGreymon's voice didn't change to WarGreymon. He gritted his teeth as a particularly strong clash between Bastard and his weapon forced his feet further into the ground.

Sparks flew as Bastard shifted his weight further pressing his advantage. Tai let out a roar as he changed his stance, giving Bastard a little more ground before pushing upwards with enough force to send Bastard skidding backwards digging his heels into the ground.

Tai breathed heavily through his nose, his arms shook a little from the aftershocks of Bastards blows. They had been fighting for what felt like hours but Tai knew it couldn't have been longer then forty-five minutes. Their fight had taken them from the roof down into the streets below and Takeru was currently nowhere to be seen but Tai knew he wasn't far away.

Tai wiped some of the dirt and sweat from his face never taking his eyes off of Bastard who remained where he had been thrown apparently waiting for Tai to make the first move. Tai wished he had more time to adjust to this new weapon, it was a lot harder to control then he had first anticipated, the thing seemed to sap his energy out of him in order to fuel itself. He was tired, but still had enough energy to keep this up for a good while longer.

"_I can't go all out, Bastard's just the first obstacle…I need to save the real thing for Zui." _ He told himself. He took a calming breath and gripped his sword with both hands readying it for another strike. Bastard smiled cockily at him as he ran forward.

"Hey now why aren't you fighting me for real?" Bastard chortled out as he jumped to the side to avoid Tai's downward strike. Tai, ignoring him, turned the blade on its side and swiping at Bastard's midsection. Bastard blocked with the dagger in his left hand when it cracked, he narrowed his eyes in angry awareness as the blade snapped. Bastard jumped back in order to avoid the full swing of Tai's blade but didn't move fast enough. The tip of the blade cut a clean line across his shirt and stomach, setting his shirt on fire and causing him to wince in pain as the flames scorched the opening of his new wound. He patted himself furiously before the flames finally died.

"I should ask you the same thing. Those flimsy weapons don't stand much chance against me. What happened to those wretched black energy blades you used before?" Tai mocked, swinging his blade in a wide arch shooting flames toward Bastard.

"Well _boy_ those aren't much fun, one scratch and you're doomed. I want you to be conscious when I slice you apart." Bastard said in a jovial manner as he dodged the coming flames, they crashed into the rubble of a building behind him.

Tai grimaced as Bastard tossed the useless dagger handle away and positioned the still whole dagger in front of him against his left palm. Tai remembered the last time they had faced Bastard and how MetalGarurumon had almost had him but failed because of that small scratch bastard had given him. Tai didn't much fancy being cut by those infernal blades, he looked at the many nicks and cuts on his arms and legs that he had received during the course of the battle and was suddenly very thankful Bastard hadn't used them from the start.

"_Tai don't space out!" _ Tai was startled back into reality by WarGreymon's command and lifted his sword up to parry as Bastard leapt into the air.

"But since you _asked._" Tai's eyes widened in shock as Bastard, instead of using his dagger, produced the dark energy blades from the bases of both his feet. Bastard stuck out his right foot landing a heavy blow on Tai's sword, Tai was forced to grip the hilt of the blade with his right hand and support the flat of the blade with his left, making him drop his shield which dangled heavily. The flames didn't burn him but that was little consolation as Bastard kept pushing him down by hopping from foot to foot. Tai was forced to bend his knees, he grunted as the weight got heavier. With alarm he realised his hand had slipped, the next hit would break his block and even if he dodged a solid struck he would still be cut be the blades, he closed his eyes in frustration and waited for the finishing blow...

"Tai!" He opened them in jubilant surprise when several glowing arrows sailed into Bastard's upraised arm forcing him off of Tai before his dark attack could cut Tai's skin.

"T.K.! Great timing as always!" Tai greeted Takeru who landed nimbly beside him giving him a pleased smirk.

Bastard growled as he pulled the arrows out of his arm and glared at the two boys. He shuffled through the inner pockets of his jackets when he felt the buzz. Pulling it out he quickly answered it with annoyance as Tai and Takeru looked on with confusion. "Yeah? No I didn't kill them! You told me not too…I was just having a little fun. You aren't mad are you? Yeah…yeah…sure I'll send them over." He hung up and stretched out, shaking his head in obvious disappointment.

"Send them over? We don't follow your bloody commands!" Tai yelled hotly.

"For your information that was the boss. But it's fine by me if you want to keep playing with me instead, its not like I care about what happens to your little girlfriends." Bastard stated.

Tai and Takeru shared an alarmed look and immediately began to head back to the others, moving with exceptional speed.

* * *

MegaKabuterimon slammed into the cave entrance, rubble and rocks fell down with him as he crashed into the ground. The creature had thrown him again but it was obvious the thing was on its last legs. Its arms only half formed after MegaKabuterimon had succeeded in ripping them off several more times.

Koushirou was standing protectively in front of Mimi, he was using his laptop to try and find out what kind of digimon the creature was. All his readings indicated it was neither digimon nor human; this didn't puzzle him as much as it would have a week ago due to recent events but it still gave him plenty of questions.

MegaKabuterimon rammed the creature, skewering it on his horn. "Electro shocker!" The creature jiggled as the electricity coursed through its body, it let out one last gurgled groan before it burst, hitting the ground in small jelly like lumps. MegaKabuterimon glowed before reverting to Tentomon. Koushirou and Mimi ran to him, Mimi shouting words of praise and Koushirou patting him on his hard shell casing.

"It was nothing Koushirou, I'm happy to help!" Tentomon said, slight embarrassment evident in his tone.

"What was that thing? Why did it attack us?" Mimi asked.

"I'm afraid I don't really know." Koushirou shrugged, stooping down to examine a small gelatinous blob left behind by the creature. He stiffened as he sensed something moving behind him in the direction of the cave, Mimi backed up into him as she felt it as well. They both turned toward the cave, fear and apprehension creeping into them as a low groan escaped from the entrance.

"Not more!" Mimi moaned. Koushirou saw she was right. More of the same type of creature started pouring out of the cave in a slow trot.

"There must be at least fifty!" He exclaimed. He looked at Tentomon nervously, there was no way he could fight those things with his current low energy levels, they had enough trouble beating one!

"I'm sorry Mimi this might be when we make our exit." He apologised before trying to re-establish his connection with Shin to open a portal back to her place.

"But Palmon!" She protested, shooting the creatures an angry glare. That's when she noticed they weren't attacking them, instead they were lining up on either side of the cave's entrance in a military like assembly. She squinted into the cave as a figure emerged, marching down the path the things had created toward them. They all blinked in disbelief when they realised it was a Centarumon trotting straight for them.

"Centarumon! Is that really you?" Koushirou asked as the digimon came to a stop in front of them.

"Hmmm? Have we met? I don't think so…" Centarumon pondered aloud. Koushirou realised now that this couldn't be the same Centarumon since its main body was a light grey instead of orange.

"Not that that's particularly important, I have a job to do after all. I need you to open a portal to your world for me." Centarumon said it he was asking a casual favour.

"What? Why should we do that?" Mimi growled. Koushirou held his cool, thinking carefully over what they could want to do in the real world.

"Are you here to stop Zui?" Koushirou questioned after a lengthy silence.

Centarumon looked pleased; he bowed to the two digidestined and spoke with confidence. "Yes. I am very sorry for my…helpers attacking you before. They aren't very intelligent. If you would be so kind as to open the portal to the battle we can help your friends."

"I can't. Shin told me there is a barrier around the area, only she can break through it." Koushirou answered honestly. He was still extremely cautious because he didn't quite believe these creatures were here to help. They had, after all, come from the same cave as Zui.

"That won't be a problem. Please use this." Centarumon produced a small chip and handed it to Koushirou who looked at it curiously. "This will allow you to create a portal into Zui's domain without Shin's help."

Koushirou examined it carefully, he pulled out his digivice and turned it on its side, there was a tiny slit on the base that seemed to be a compatible size with the chip. He glanced at Centarumon who smiled at him. Koushirou noticed with concern that the other creatures had created a circle around them, blocking any path of escape.

"…How did you know my friends were fighting?" Koushirou asked quietly.

"My master knows all." Centarumon replied rigidly.

"Your master? Who?"

"That is not information you need. All you must do is open the portal."

"And if I refuse?"

Centarumon stopped smiling. He backhanded Koushirou so hard and so fast that Koushirou hardly had time to register the hit as spots clouded his vision and he slammed into the ground. Mimi screamed and ran over to Koushirou to help him up, a dark bruise was starting to form on his cheek and he wiped the small trickle of blood away from his cut lip.

Tentomon bristled, he tried to evolve but he was far too exhausted from his previous fight. Instead he settled for firing an electro shocker at Centarumon who dodged it and struck the insect digimon into the ground with ease.

"What the hell! There's no way we're going to help you now you ass!" Mimi fumed; she stopped when Centarumon picked up the laptop Koushirou had dropped during his fall and held it out to them.

"I am not giving you a choice. I only need one of you to open the portal, the other is expendable. If you understand then do as I say and I will spare your friend." Centarumon addressed Koushirou directly, shoving the laptop into his face.

* * *

Sora and Hikari were searching the ground below trying to follow the boy's movements as they fought with Bastard. Neither of them wanted to turn around and face the corpse still sitting on the chair.

Sora gripped the side of the railing tightly enjoying the firm feel of the cold metal against her bare hands. It helped her focus. She knew Zui would crawl out of the woodwork soon enough but that's not what made her nervous. They had faced countless evils before and won so it didn't really faze her. It was the thought of seeing Yamato again in what Shin had described as a "puppet" state; she wasn't sure how she would handle it if she couldn't reach him with her words and pull him from Zui's hands. What if she wasn't good enough? What if Zui struck her down before she could save him?

She and Hikari jumped in surprise when a bright light flickered on behind them. They both slowly turned toward the chair behind them watching in apprehension as the light that had been flashing from the back of the chair slowly faded away.

Sora's grip on the railing tightened even further when she saw a young girl with cropped raven hair step out from behind the chair. Sora realised instantly that this girl must be Zui, she threw caution to the wind and lunged at her, throwing her curled fist toward Zui's face.

Zui caught her hand and sneered down at her. Sora yelled and brought her other fist around to try and catch her under the chin. Zui caught this one as well then delivered a sharp kick to Sora's stomach, releasing her grip and sending her flying backwards into Hikari. They both slammed into the railing which creaked under their weight but thankfully held firm.

"Glad to see you remember me even in my real form." Zui snickered.

Sora wheezed and pushed herself off the floor. She stumbled to her feet, supporting herself on the railing. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him, she was so focused on Zui that she hadn't even seen him there. He stood beside Zui, a strong wind shook them all fluttering through his golden hair as he stared blankly forward. She took a few calming breaths, focusing all her willpower into not running into his arms as she stepped forward.

Hikari cast a worried glance at Sora; the tension in the air was thick and the plumes of smoke from the recent explosions billowing upwards in the distance along with the eerie darkness caused by the barrier gave everything an unreal feel.

"Yamato…can you hear me?" Sora reached out to him, her voice was quiet and shook a little despite how much she didn't want it to. He made no move to indicate he had heard her; she took a step toward him only for Zui to step between them.

"Sorry but you aren't who he needs to see just now." Zui stated.

"What?" Sora growled.

"Sora! Hikari!" She looked up to see Tai and Takeru jumping over her head, they both landed into a fighting stance between her and Zui.

"Zui. We've been waiting for you. I think it's high time you gave us Yamato back!" Tai bellowed.

"Sure." She responded. They all looked at her with distrust written all over their faces but she just shrugged and motioned for Yamato to come over. He walked forward to stand beside her.

"Nii-chan?" Takeru's voice was laced with hesitant hopefulness; he frowned when he looked into his brothers eyes and saw no recognition or light in them.

"Yama can you hear us? We're here to get you back buddy. I could really use your help in showing those two jackasses how wrong they were to mess with us." Tai tried, he felt a deep foreboding sensation at this situation.

"Yamato..." Zui cooed sweetly, she placed her hands on his shoulders caressing his face as she tilted his ear toward her waiting lips "…eliminate them."

Tai and Takeru stiffed as Yamato raised his right arm; they saw he was holding a silver handgun that closely resembled a .500 Smith and Wesson. Tai watched with a sinking feeling in his gut as Yamato brought his left hand forward, placing the digivice he was holding against the barrel of the gun.

"Shit! Is that Tsunomon!" Tai cried as a shadowy light burst from the connection, he and the others covered their eyes. When he could see again he saw the new weapon in Yamato's hand. The gun had almost doubled in size and now had two barrels. It had changed to a dark silvery black; a barely visible blue wolf ran up the shaft of the gun toward the nozzle on either side, its fangs bared. A thin black chain connected to the butt of the gun snaked up his wrist and hung limply between his hands before attaching to the tip of the hilt of a mid length dagger in his left. The dagger was bluish silver; it curved upward in a fang like shape with three thin, deep indentations at the base before the hilt. Its blade was tinged a deep frozen blue.

Tai barely blocked as Yamato charged into him, their blades grating against each other producing orange and blue sparks. Tai was shoved back by the pressure, Sora and Hikari were forced to leap out of the way as he and Yamato slammed into the railing. The already weakened structure gave out and they both went hurtling toward the ground.

"Tai! Nii-chan!" Takeru called after them as they fell. Takeru turned his rage toward Zui, a quick glance told him Hikari and Sora had avoided falling so he readied his bow.

"You truly believe you can face me alone?" Zui seemed amused by his stance.

"I won't just face you, I'll take you down." Takeru replied. Hatred and determination displayed within his words and on his face.

"Sorry but that's not how this goes." She smiled sweetly at him. Raising both her arms she blasted a stream of dark energy toward him, it expanded giving him no room to dodge so his glove glowed a strong yellow, he created a triangle in the air with a swift movement leaving behind a point of light at each end. Bands of light shot from them connecting the dots and a golden force field solidified between the lines just as the attack slammed into it. Takeru grunted as his whole body shook from the pressure hitting into the shield, the attack didn't let up and it sent him shooting away from the roof and slamming into a skyscraper a good distance away.

"There. Ethan will keep him at bay if need be. Now all we have to do is wait." Zui grinned at the remaining girls, smoke dissipating from her hands as she did so.

* * *

"Yama it's me! I know we have our disagreements but is killing me really the answer?" Tai yelled as he blocked several jabs and slices Yamato sent his way. He was getting _really_ frustrated now. Yamato didn't seem to hear a word and that blade looked none too friendly. He kept one eye trained on the gun, so far Yamato hadn't used it but he was nervous about what kind of power the bullets would have.

Tai was keeping on the defensive but he knew he couldn't do it for long. "_Tai. I know you don't want to hurt him, I really don't want too either but we are going to lose like this. Our only option is to fight back; he's not the type of opponent that will just let us by." _ MetalGreymon's voice floated through his head.

"I know. Damnit Yama snap out of it! I never took you for someone who would just follow order's no questions asked, you never did for any of mine unless you completely agreed! Sora's waiting up on that roof with that psycho bitch you know!" He cried as he continued to block and parry. The last sentence seemed to hit a small cord within Yamato and his attacks paused for a fraction of a second. Yamato back flipped away from Tai landing in a crouching position.

"That's it! Listen to me Sora wants you to come back asap, and if you make her wait any longer I won't be able to help you when she flips out at you…you don't want to make her mad right?" Tai rushed his words as Yamato slowly stood, his head still bent down. Tai looked at him hopefully, did his words reach him? That hopefulness vanished instantly when Yamato snapped his head up and raised his gun firing multiple shots, the bullets were small blue orbs about the size of a football and had black lighting swirling around them.

Tai narrowly avoided them by leaping to the side. Yamato continued to shoot following Tai as he jumped and ran in a wide arch. Tai turned toward him, stooping low to avoid the shots and closing the distance, once he was close enough he swung his sword upwards. Yamato blocked with his dagger, sparks flew and the clang of metal against metal echoed as Tai continued his assault.

* * *

"You…why the hell are you making Yamato fight Tai! There's no reason for it you heartless bitch!" Sora yelled at Zui who was leaning on the armrest of the chair.

"Tut tut…" Zui waved her index finger at Sora, tapping her own nose as she shook her head. "There's a very good reason."

"Bullshit! From what I hear it's thanks to Yamato and me that you were able to communicate with this world and this is how you thank him? Don't you care about him at all?" Sora was enraged at this point, clenching and unclenching her fists. Hikari was trying to see were Tai and Takeru had gone by searching the streets below once more.

Zui glared at Sora, she pushed off the armrest and straightened out her dress. "I don't just care about him. I love him. And he loves me."

Sora gawked in shock, literally shaking with rage as she yelled. "You think he loves you! After everything you've done to him? You hurt him! You dragged him away from his friends and family and now you are forcing him to fight!"

"He wants to fight. He should be willing to go through some pain for me, I love him."

"Can you even hear yourself? You forced him to do all those things! If you love someone you should want to do everything you can to keep them from pain and sadness! Why…why even make him fight in the first place? You're strong, why aren't you fighting?"

"Because Yamato has to do this for me, you see he does love me he just…needs to be reminded of that."

"What…?"

Zui sighed; she scratched the back of her head as she replied. "You see since he has been with all of you he has developed…other priorities. If I remove you he may end up hating me, unfortunately most of you have deluded him into believing you love him more then I do…"

Sora could hardly believe what she was hearing. Shin had said she was like a spoilt child but this? This was self delusion and selfish desire on a whole other level!

"…so he has to be the one to kill you all. If he kills his best friend, his brother, his…_former _lover he'll have no choice but to listen to me. I'll be the only one left in the world he can depend on."

"You…you don't care about his feelings at all! You're just trying to monopolize him for yourself like he's some kind of…of _pet_."

"Be careful what you say." Zui hissed.

Sora stood her ground crossing her arms and tilting her head haughtily. "You know I'm right. You haven't thought about it from his point of view…not even once! That isn't love, that's obsession! You're a spoilt child clinging to what you believe is love when it's nothing but self delusion. We will never let Yamato do something like killing his friends; we'll defeat you before that happens."

"Well said Sora!" Tai yelled as he tried to slice Zui in half from behind her. She turned in angry surprise and jumped to avoid the hit.

Tai was bleeding from a small cut above his left eye and panting heavily, he swung around as Yamato pounced on him, the strike forced Tai onto his back and he slid across the roof stopping at Sora's feet.

Tai propped himself up on his elbows just as Yamato pressed the nozzle of the gun against his forehead. The air was thick, sweat dribbled down Tai's face as he stared into the soulless eyes of his best friend.

"Yamato, you don't want to do this!" Sora spoke, not daring to move in case that made him fire, her tone was hushed and urgent.

"Yama…I know you're in there. We've been in countless battles together remember? I trust you with my life…so I'm going to trust you now. Come back to us." Tai breathed, staring into Yamato's eyes to show the conviction of his words. He was terrified on the inside, if Yamato didn't listen this time that was it, not just for him but for everyone.

Zui grew impatient when Yamato still made no move to fire. She stuck her fists on her hips, pivoting one out to the side. "Yamato. Kill him!" She ordered.

Yamato's finger twitched against the trigger, his previously expressionless face changing as he narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. Zui watched him in frustration as his arm began to shake. Sora, Hikari and Tai shared a sigh of relief as Yamato jerked his violently quivering arm away from Tai's head. He turned it toward Zui painstakingly slowly, his entire body resisting the action.

"Yamato. You're going to resist me, even now?" Zui seemed devastated; her hands fell limply to her sides as her features crumbled into complete sadness. She shook her head, large tears streaming down her face; she almost looked like a lost child.

Sora would have almost felt pity for her at that moment. Would have almost heeded Shin's request and not hated her. Perhaps she may have even been able to forgive her, given time. Perhaps she could have even come to understand her point of view.

But that was never meant to be, Zui's next course of action destroyed any chance of that ever occurring.

"Yamato…you idiot." Zui spoke in deathly monotone, clicking her fingers. A small scratch appeared on Yamato's cheek, Sora gaped at it in disbelief, nothing had attacked him!

"Idiot." Another click, another scratch; this time along his forearm. Yamato grimaced but remained with his gun still pointing at Zui, instead of shying away from it she walked straight toward him.

Tai glared at the new wound then to Zui, realising she was somehow causing it he charged at her, sword blazing. Instead of striking her he struck a shield of some sort around her, he tried multiple times but every hit just yielded deep black sparks that made scratches and gave him mild shocks wherever they hit him. While he was doing this she still continued walking forward slowly.

"Stop." Sora demanded. She was hurting him again! "Stop. Stop! Stop!" She repeated over and over, her pitch getting higher and more desperate each time.

"Idiot." Three clicks in quick succession, a cut on his thigh, shoulder, shin. Tai tried harder, hitting and striking at the barrier. He saw Zui's face between each strike; fury consumed her whole form, palpable malice bled off her.

"Idiot." Two more clicks, two deep cuts on his right forearm. She was past his weapon now; he still aimed straight ahead and couldn't seem to move at all.

Sora kept shouting at Zui to stop, she was behind Yamato now. She hooked her arms around his torso, pulling as hard as she could. She was begging him to move, begging Zui to stop. Hikari had joined her, hooking herself under Sora's arms and pulling. Both of them combined couldn't budge him.

Zui stopped centimetres away from him; she glared up into his eyes. She could see him struggling, pushing against her control with everything he had. Then she saw it, the light returning to his face, the look of contempt and sadness he gave her. Wait…sadness? Why could she see that? She saw anger, contempt and loathing that she partially expected, but she also saw compassion. _Pity._ But no love.

Zui grit her teeth, she didn't want pity. She wanted him to love her, as completely and wholly as she felt she loved him. She rested her head on his chest. The chaos surrounding them, Tai attempting to damage her barrier, Sora and Hikari begging her to stop and pulling on Yamato's unmoving form, it all faded away as she listened to his steady heartbeat.

"…I love you. Please bear it." She whispered, clicking her fingers.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry this is a really mean cliff hanger…I'll update soon! Though I think those familiar with my train of thought know where this is going.


	11. Enemies

Chapter 11: Enemies

"Sooo…got anything besides tea?" Joe broke the awkward silence hesitantly; he and Shi had been staring at the screen watching the outside of Zui's barrier for what felt like a lifetime now. He was worried for his friends and frustrated he couldn't be with them even though he knew someone had to stay behind in order for them to return. He was pretty hungry but he mainly just wanted to fill the silence.

"Anything you want. I can make any food appear on this table." Shin replied, never taking her eyes off the screen.

"Ah…some chicken ramen would be nice."

"Ok! Here you go!" Shin waved her arm over the table and an enormous steaming bowl of ramen appeared.

"If you don't mind me asking how do you know what things like green tea and ramen are? I mean you did say you can't usually contact the real world." Joe asked curiously as he examined the food.

She seemed to consider this for a moment, before tilting her head and shrugging saying "Never really thought about it. I've just sorta always known about those things."

"Oh. Well thank you anyway." He began eating, Shin turned her attention back to the screen and silence reigned once more.

"Do you mind if we check on Mimi and Koushirou? They have been gone a while." Joe asked as he finished off the last of the ramen.

"Hmmm? I guess, but they are just waiting for Zui's defeat and it seemed to me that they might need a little _privacy."_

Joe coughed, hitting his chest with his fist to calm himself down. Shin looked at him with concern but he waved his hand to let her know he was ok. He sighed, swirling the chopsticks through the remaining liquid from the noodles. It was certainly a lost cause; he would just have to give up on her. To be honest he had figured it out a while ok, the way she looked at Koushirou, talked about him. It was obvious to everyone. "_At least…" _ He pondered, "_It was just a little crush. I mean I'm not feeling overly upset about it like I thought I would…it is just a bit difficult to get over." _

"I guess we can check on them though, if that's what you want." Shin said sympathetically, she realised she had handled that pretty poorly. He made no response so she flicked her wrist at the screen. She and Joe hopped up at what they saw, worry and shock clearly evident in their movements and faces.

"What's going on? What the hell are those things!" Joe pointed a quivering finger at the screen. He and Shin got as close to the screen as possible, leaning almost close enough for their cheeks to touch.

"I have no idea! I thought all the digimon in the digital world had been turned to data!" Shin proclaimed.

"Ok Centarumon's a digimon, but those things aren't like any digimon I've ever seen!" Joe yelped.

The screen was an overhead view that showed several strange ape like creatures that Joe and Shin had trouble making out due to their translucency but that they could see nonetheless, they were lining up behind Koushirou in rows of two while he fiddled with his laptop and something else they couldn't make out from this distance. Motimon was on the floor beside him, he seemed to be sleeping. Mimi was standing beside Centarumon who had an oversized hand on her shoulder.

"Can't you zoom in?" Joe asked. Shin nodded, choosing to get a close up view of Koushirou first. He was working with his digivice, glancing angrily at Centarumon whatever chance he got. Shin moved the screen up toward Mimi, she was glaring at Centarumon, frightened but also very angry.

"They definitely aren't friendly! We've got to help them!" Joe said.

"We can't. If you leave I would have to go through Hikari again to get any of you back here, it would take a while and I _really _don't want to do it again. Besides even if you go what can you do? Your digimon is still out of commission and those things look pretty tough! I could open the portal and bring Koushirou here but that would only bring him and Motimon back, unless he gets over to Mimi somehow there is nothing we can do." Shin replied, biting her thumbnail.

* * *

Koushirou pretended to fiddle with his digivice and typed unnecessary information into the computer. He was stalling as much as he could, hoping that the others would somehow beat Zui and come help them before Centarumon figured out he was just stalling.

Centarumon was growing extremely impatient, he didn't know how this worked but he was completely sure it shouldn't take this long. "Please do not take me for a fool. If that portal is not open in the next ten seconds I'm taking her arm off." He stated this in a matter of a fact way. Mimi struggled, she looked at Koushirou pleadingly.

"Ten."

"You can't do that!" Mimi squealed.

"Nine"

"Leave her out of this!" Koushirou pleaded.

"Eight."

"I really am going as fast as I can, opening the portal takes time!"

"Seven."

"Believe me; I wouldn't risk this sort of thing!"

"Six."

Mimi and Koushirou exchanged a worried look. His mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out a way to save Mimi and prevent them from going after his friends. They claimed they were only after Zui but Koushirou didn't believe them in the least.

"Five."

There had to be something he could do right? He was a computer genius couldn't he outsmart this guy!

"Four."

"I'm telling the truth I just need more time!"

"Three."

What could he do? He really didn't want to let them into the real world. And what about Yamato? He was being controlled right? That's what Shin had said, what if they just cut him down? He wouldn't put it past them.

"Two."

Damn, there was nothing he could think of! Mimi was visibly frightened now; she closed her eyes, nothing in her body movement or facial expression indicated that she would hold it against him if he didn't open the portal. But he would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.

"One."

"Stop!" _I'm sorry everyone. _"Digiport open!"

* * *

"_T.K.! T.K wake up!" _ Takeru moaned. He was lying on the floor, glass and fragments from the wreckage of the room he had crashed into surrounded him. He tried to support himself on his elbows only to feel a searing pain shoot from his left arm, he vaguely wondered if it was broken as he forced himself into a sitting position ignoring the pain.

His head was throbbing and his left arm was now in complete agony, he tried to cradle it in order to stand but every touch forced him to hiss in pain. "_T.K. You're hurt! You should take this opportunity to rest a bit."_

"Thanks Patamon, but I can't waste time here. Everyone needs my help." Takeru examined himself, he had no idea how long he had been lying here but he knew every second counted. He touched his arm reluctantly.

"I'm no doctor…but I think it isn't broken. It's just popped out of its socket."

"_That's good, but don't you need a doctor to put it back in?"_

"Hah…I've never wished to see Joe more in my life." He gripped his upper arm, pain shot through him but he knew this was only the start. He shoved it up, white searing pain almost made him black out. He was panting and sweat ran down his back, he was covered in dirt and blood from the numerous nicks he had got by ploughing through the window and wall.

"_T.K…don't force yourself."_

"I really don't have a choice." He murmured out through gritted teeth. He couldn't stop here. He had to help Tai talk some sense into his brother, help Hikari and Sora with Zui.

"I'm the holder of hope right? It will all work out. I'm going to fix my arm with this next move." He smiled wryly, shoving his arm upward again, the movement forcing him to roar in pain. "_Go in go in go in!" _ He jiggled it painfully, dark spots started to creep into his vision. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore he heard an audible pop as the bone clicked back into its socket.

"Ha…" He fell back onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of what must have once been an office. "Ha! Hahahahahaha! See Patamon what did I tell you!"

"_You're right; it will all be fine in the end!"_

Takeru rolled over and pushed himself up, he was still laughing slightly as he rolled his shoulder experimentally. It was still sore but nothing he couldn't handle. He smiled, gazing across the city to judge how far he had been thrown before leaping out in the direction he had come from.

* * *

Sora felt something tear beneath her arms with a horrible ripping sound; hot liquid spilled over them and flowed through the air in streams as Yamato was finally moved by her and Hikari's combined effort. They all hit the floor, Hikari grunted as she was thrown away from them. Sora still had her arms tightly wrapped around Yamato as her back hit the floor, she held onto him as she skidded across the roof feeling her blouse tear and the pain of sharp rubble scraping across her back.

When she finally came to a stop she hurriedly moved herself into a sitting position with Yamato between her legs, his head slumped against her chest and his body sagged. She slowly removed one of her arms from its position around his waist. She held her shaking fingers up for inspection. The hot, viscous liquid coated her entire forearm; it dribbled down her elbow hitting the floor with a small plopping sound and seemed to sparkle at her with its deep crimson red.

Tai was beside her in moments. He pried Sora's arm off and lifted Yamato's shirt. He grimaced at the sight of the injury, from its positioning on Yamato's stomach he realised it must be the same knife wound Zui inflicted when she took over his body. He ripped off his own T-shirt, bundling it up and pressing it against the open wound. The original orange quickly darkened as it became saturated with blood.

"Yamato! Yamato look at me!" Sora babbled, pushing his face toward her with her hand that wasn't supporting his half lying, half sitting position. His eyes were closed and his face was getting paler by the second. "Yamato! Look at me right now! You can't do this to me! Look at me! Please!" She searched his face, her eyes darting wildly as she tried to detect any signs of life. When he didn't respond to her words she tried a different tactic; fluttering brief little kisses over his eyes, forehead, lips. Anything that might get a reaction.

His eyes started quivering; she let out a little pleased whimper of victory as he looked up at her. To her joy his eyes had returned to their original sapphire glory. He even managed to _smile_ at her before he started coughing. She supported him as best she could, never letting her eyes leave his face as his body trembled from the cough. Alarm danced across her features as blood poured from his mouth in thick streams, she whipped her head around to look at Zui.

Zui was just standing there staring at them, her face a picture of torment. She was openly crying, twisting the hem of her dress between her fingers. Sora was astonished, if it was giving her this much emotional turmoil why didn't she just save him?

"Fix him Zui! I know you can! He'll die like this! Please…" Sora cried. Her cheeks felt wet from the tears she hadn't even realised she'd been shedding; her tone was full of fury and desperation.

"Not yet. Not until I win back control." Zui stated firmly. Tai and Sora glared at her as she walked toward them. She knelt down in front of them and just stared at Yamato like she was waiting for something.

Tai wanted to attack her, get her away from them but he had his hands full trying to stem the tide seeping out of the wound. He briefly wondered where Hikari was, he knew she had fallen with them and landed not too far away but right now he couldn't shift his focus.

Yamato tried his best to stay awake, this was exhausting. He was in tremendous pain, but what was more pressing was the pressure Zui was putting on his mind, she was trying to take over again. He felt like his consciousness was being forced back into wherever the hell she had been holding it before. He remembered that place, it was dark…it had felt like he was underwater but he could still breath, he had been able to see foggy images but do nothing to respond. He wouldn't go back there, even if it would mean relief from the agony he was now experiencing.

"Even…if you kill me…I won't obey you anymore…" He gurgled. Sora, Tai and Zui looked at him in shock, Tai growled in annoyance as Sora shouted "Oh hell no Yamato!"

Yamato and Zui blinked in surprise, they both looked at Sora who had stopped crying and was now sporting a look of extreme exasperation. "That's enough! Even if this spoilt brat doesn't help you we are getting through this! We didn't come here just for you to give up!"

"Yeah!" Tai vehemently agreed. Zui bit her lip, what the hell was that?

Yamato almost felt like laughing, but at this point he definitely couldn't manage that. He felt the life seeping out of him, indescribable agony beginning to fade into numbness. But he definitely couldn't die now, not after that.

"Zui…I won't be…a puppet…" Every word was laboured as he spoke, "…I won't die… and I can't forgive you…"

She stiffened, her features smoothing out into cold indifference. "That's what you say now, but you will with time. After everyone else is gone and it's just the two of us."

"…even if that happened…I would never…forgive you…" She glared at him but he continued, "…I would…wait for the day…I could kill you with my own hands…but…" She perked up, despite herself she grabbed his hand in both of hers at the slim sliver of hope he was offering.

"I may change my mind…if you help me now…" He started coughing again, Sora tried to hold his body as still as possible until he was finished. Zui pursed her lips, seemingly debating his offer. Yamato was barely conscious now, he knew he had to get this last part out quickly, "…I will never love you…because that would be impossible…and I am already in love…" Sora smiled at that, kissing the top of his head as he struggled on, "…But I know that…you are just lonely…someday…I may be able…to be your friend…because I understand…what that's like…" His eyes were drooping now and the hand Zui was holding went limp.

Sora and Tai shared a desperate look before turning their eyes to Zui.

"You heard him! Help him now!" Sora demanded.

"You're the one who did this, you have to fix it!" Tai added.

Zui whimpered, she looked surprised and devastated when his hand went limp. She glanced at his wound and his pale face. "I'm…I'm sorry! Don't leave me alone!" She pushed Tai away and placed her own hands over it, dark light swirled about the wound and it began mending itself, it was done after a few seconds leaving behind a slim jagged scar.

As soon as Sora saw it was mended she punched Zui, who didn't expect it at all and couldn't defend, sharply in the jaw. Tai watched with a his mouth hanging open as Zui bounced and rolled across the roof before slamming into the chair sending it and the corpse it contained tumbling to the floor.

Sora felt Yamato's pulse, it was weak but it was still there. "He's alive." She stated to Tai. He nodded and stood up, he spotted what she assumed was Hikari and ran off leaving her alone with Yamato. She cradled his head, watching him breath with relieved satisfaction. Finally. He was finally back in her arms and was finally on the mend. She couldn't stop herself from winding her fingers through his hair as she started humming to him. She didn't know if he could hear but it felt like the right thing to do; she felt like laughing, crying and screaming all at the same time but she settled for this instead. "I love you too...don't do that to me again." She whispered into his ear before resuming her humming.

Tai reached Hikari just as Takeru returned to the roof. Takeru surveyed the scene: a smiling Sora and his sleeping Nii-chan, a broken chair and Zui rubbing her cheek and getting to her feet and Tai patting an unconscious Hikari's face. Well that's definitely what needs his attention first.

"Earth to Hikari! Don't you think you've spent enough time being unconscious?" Tai said with a bit of worry, he assumed she must have hit her head when she fell. Takeru came up behind him and knelt down just as Hikari woke up.

"Ow…yeah I do actually stupid Onii-chan. Wait, what about Yamato!" She held her head as she spoke.

"He's okay now." Tai responded. Takeru looked very relieved as he and Tai helped her to her feet before they all turned their attention to Zui.

Zui looked very confused, unsure of what to do with herself she approached Yamato and Sora again. Takeru and Tai slid into her path, weapons ready. This was definitely not how she had wanted things to turn out. Yamato would never be hers, she had tried dragging him kicking and screaming but that had only made him hate her. But he had said they could be friends eventually…right? She didn't want to settle for that but…

"I'm very sorry!" Tai and Takeru could hardly believe it as Zui dropped into a deep bow, placing her head on the floor.

"What the hell…?" Tai grumbled.

"You think that's going to be good enough!" Takeru yelled.

"We can't forgive you. I can't think of anything you can do to possibly atone. Not only for all the suffering you put Yamato through but also for all the people you killed. You're hands are stained with blood." Sora seethed, still cradling Yamato's head as he breathed softly.

"I didn't kill those people! I just shut the town within the barrier…I thought people were like digimon…that they'd just get reborn later."

"You did kill those people! Even if you didn't take their lives directly you still created the barrier that trapped them in here! And even if it was the same…they would still lose all their memories. That isn't even good enough to be considered a excuse." Tai cut in.

"…what should I do then…?" Zui gradually stood, she was getting angrier by the second, she wasn't one to apologize for her actions but she had been sincere and they shot her down.

"Zui…you truly disappoint me. Bowing before _children_…I thought we were kindred spirits." Bastard said smoothly. Tai and Takeru started, when had he come back? Bastard had his corpse bride in his arms and was staring at Zui.

The tv, which had been cracked and tossed on its side when Zui had hit the chair, began to flash. A bright light flooded the roof, everyone turned toward the source. The light faded revealing an army of translucent ape like creatures.

"Oh what now, I am seriously getting tired of this!" Tai fumed.


	12. Misunderstanding

Authors note: Sorry about the delay, usual author excuses: life, work etc.

So here's the next chapter, getting harder for me to stick to my promise of no lemons. To be honest I was scared to write one but each time I come back I keep getting closer…maybe next time haha. Anyway pretty fluffy chapter so I do hope you've all had your shots. Once again sorry for the lateness I'll try to get the next one up faster!

Chapter 12: Misunderstanding

Mimi scowled up at Centarumon, so far all he had done was stand there as Koushirou sent wave after wave of those things through the portal. She didn't understand why he hadn't gone through yet, he was the leader right? Surely he could trust one or two of those things with the task of guarding her and head through himself. To be completely honest that's what she was waiting for. Those things were stupid, slow and unorganised; she and Koushirou would definitely have a better chance of getting away from them.

The last of the creatures went through the gate as Koushirou let out a tired breath. Mimi continued to scowl at Centarumon, hoping against hope that maybe he would let them go now.

"I am afraid I haven't been completely truthful with you. I will need you both to accompany me." Centarumon stated flatly.

"You lied then. You wouldn't have killed Mimi?" Koushirou asked in a quiet voice.

"Kill? That would be against my orders. However I only need to bring you both back alive, it is up to you whether that is in one piece." Centarumon answered mildly.

"I suppose you still won't tell me who is giving these orders. Can you at least tell me where it is you want us to go?" Koushirou's voice was even, he wanted to get as much information as he could though the chances Centarumon would actually give him a straight answer were slim.

"You will see it for yourselves. There is no need for me to explain."

"…I won't."

"Resistance is truly moronic at this point. You have no choice."

Koushirou bit his lip, he was scared. Terrified, to be more precise. He had never come up against anything like this in all his adventures, being separated from the others with no help on its way. He glanced at Motimon; the poor digimon was still knocked out cold. He bent down to scope him up.

"That will not be necessary. Your defender will remain here." Centarumon stopped him before he lifted the unconscious digimon. He sighed and left Motimon where he lay, took Mimi's hand in his own and began solemnly walking toward the cave per Centarumon's directions.

* * *

Zui was screaming something but Tai couldn't quite hear over the deafening roar the creatures let out all at once which was forcing him to cover his ears. He suddenly found himself falling backwards, landing on his back he was about to ask what the hell had happened when he noticed there was a strange translucent arm hovering in the space he had just occupied. He turned to see Takeru crouching beside him and realised he must have kicked out his feet from under him.

"Hah…you're actually really good at this T.K."

"_You're just waaay too spacey." _ MetalGreymon rumbled in the back of his mind.

Tai quickly rolled away from the creatures arm. Jumping back to his feet he brought his blade down slicing the things arm clean off with one swing. The sliced portion fell to the floor exploding into a jelly like substance while the portion still attached retreated back to its owner.

The creatures advanced surprisingly quickly after that. Tai continued to slice and cut at them but they just continued coming. He saw arrow after arrow fly past him as Takeru tried to help him maintain a defensive position around the others.

"Cut at the head! That won't grow back!" Zui shouted. She had created a barrier around herself again, it kept her save from the ever advancing army but it looked like it was tiring her out.

"How do you know that exactly? What are these things!" Tai managed to yell back at her as he followed her instructions, the creature he had just beheaded exploding into jelly before him splashing his upraised shield and exposed skin.

"_Ewwww…" _MetalGreymon complained.

"Tell me about it." Tai grumbled as he sliced through another creature sending yet more sludge into the air.

"I know because that's what I've been doing! I have no idea what these things are!" She shouted back at him. Every few minutes a bolt of black lightning would shoot from her shield and strike a creature in the head.

Bastard was standing beside Zui within the shield. He winced as the creatures started to gain the upper hand with sheer weight and numbers causing the shield to shrink and Zui to start panting.

"Perhaps we should retreat? Things haven't gone quite as planned after all." Bastard whispered into Zui's ear. Zui bit her lip as she debated her options. She tried to see Yamato through the mass of creatures exploding and being thrown back by Takeru and Tai. They were doing a pretty good job of keeping the things at bay but she could tell they couldn't last for much longer.

"We have to get off the roof!" Tai barked.

"Yeah but how! We've got too many people; I can't carry someone and attack at the same time!" Takeru responded.

Sora bit her lip and cradled Yamato's head closer to her chest. The creatures kept getting closer, Tai and Takeru were losing ground fast. She glimpsed Zui through the mass of creatures separating them into two groups on either side of the roof. Sora thought she looked torn yet again, indecision recognisable even as Tai and Takeru darted in and out of her line of vision.

"Zui! Get us off the roof!" Sora hollered. Hikari gaped at her in disbelief. Tai and Takeru didn't have time to react since they were struggling against the tide of creatures.

Bastard laughed wholeheartedly, throwing his head back enjoying what he thought was a ridiculous plea. Zui stood completely still with a smirk slowly spreading across her face. Bastard stopped laughing to give her a quizzical look as she walked forward toward the team, sending creatures flying and bursting into jelly in her wake.

Tai braced himself as the shield came within inches of him but to his surprise instead of repelling him it engulfed him and the others. Tai was glaring at Zui and Bastard as they stood in front of them, Zui looked exhausted but smug and Bastard was very disinterested. The creatures were still pounding on the shield and had now surrounded them on either side.

"Hah…so you are willing to accept my help? I thought I wasn't worth it, you know hands stained in blood and all." Zui attempted to keep her haughty air but the words came out in pants.

"It's your stupid fault all of this happened. You want forgiveness? Help us get off this stupid roof and I will think about considering it." Sora seethed as she swung Yamato's arm over her shoulder and struggled to her feet.

"Guh!" Zui fell to one knee as the armies' attacks become more vicious. She could feel her shield growing weaker by the second. "_These things…they shouldn't be able to weaken me this much!" _ She thought angrily. "Ok…give me Yamato…You just need someone to carry the third person right?" She wheezed.

"Yeah but there's no way in hell you get to touch him ever again. You can carry me." Sora proclaimed confidently.

"Sora! That's insane! What if she tries something, we have no proof she is reformed besides her poor excuse for an apology!" Tai objected. Sora rolled her eyes and shoved Yamato into Tai's free arm.

"It's just to get down from here. Besides we just jump down right? She can't do that much from here to there." Sora argued, hooking Yamato's discarded weapon on her belt as she did so.

"Let's just get off this roof before I no longer can!" Zui screamed, she grabbed Sora roughly by her waist and jumped off the roof with Takeru carrying Hikari, Tai carrying Yamato and Bastard carrying his wife not far behind.

They skipped between the buildings until they hit the ground. Hard. Zui dropped Sora immediately turning her attention to maintaining the shield directly above them as the creatures fell after them in droves.

"Run! Get Shin to open you a stupid port somewhere! I'll hold them off for as long as I can." Zui grunted through gritted teeth.

"That's it. I'm out; I have what I need from you." Bastard said coolly. He ran past her breaking a small hole in the barrier. The creatures seemed to ignore him as he darted past.

"That's the thanks I get! Screw you!" Zui yelled after him. Sora scrambled to her feet and took Yamato from Tai as he readied his sword just in case the things chased them.

"Right. Sora and Hikari will carry Yamato, I'll lead. T.K. you provide backup. Anyone sees a tv or computer let me know, we'll head for our original entry point just to be sure." Tai ordered.

Sora glanced back at Zui; she was struggling to keep the shield up. It rippled looking weaker by the second and few of those things arms could be seen creeping through small holes in the black veil. Sora saw her look over her shoulder at them.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation!" Zui roared.

Tai ran forward, sending several creatures flying with a mighty swing of his sword. He brought it down on another creatures head as he pushed on. Sora and Hikari tried their best to keep up with him but even with both of them combined Yamato was proving difficult to carry since he just hung between them like a dead weight.

Takeru whipped back and forth firing arrow after arrow, hitting creatures coming from the sides or behind them. He was walking backwards, trying his best not to trip Sora and Hikari up.

"Shit!" Tai had impaled a creature but that had turned out to be a foolish decision, the creature healed over his blade. He placed his foot on the thing's stomach and pulled as hard as he could.

"_Let me go if you have to Tai!" _MetalGreymon growled.

"No way! I've almost got it!" The blade started to give as the creature raised both its arms for another pounding attack.

"Tai!" Sora cried.

"Onii-chan!" Hikari cried simultaneously.

Tai grit his teeth in preparation for the impact still refusing to release his grip. He felt a small shock singe his cheek as a blue sphere flew past him colliding with the things head, it burst sending him skidding backward sword still in hand. He whipped around to see the smoking barrel of Yamato's gun; he was still leaning heavily on Sora for support.

"Looked like you needed some help." Yamato smirked cockily at Tai who returned the look.

"Nah, could have taken it easy. Just thought you could use a free hit."

"You didn't even know I could move."

"Yeah well…I gambled."

Yamato shook his head with his grin still stuck firmly in place and shot three more rounds at several creatures closing in behind Tai. They continued forward, the creatures kept coming but their numbers were definitely diminishing. Eventually their goal was finally in sight and there were only ten or eleven creatures left.

"Hah…about time…" Tai panted. He was tired of cutting through those things, each hit felt like he was cutting through taffy, it was hard to do.

Yamato continued firing shots at the remaining creatures, he couldn't tell if they were getting faster or if he was getting slower since most of them missed. The two deep gashes on his forearm Zui had neglected to heal ached with each shot fired making him wince. Several arrows flew past him colliding with the two creatures he had been trying to hit, he gave a tired wave of his gun as a thanks.

Sora was holding on to the dagger, carefully holding it in front of them just in case those creatures got too close. She didn't have to use it as they finally reached their destination passing by the grotesque pile of heads, she felt Yamato tense as they passed. "_That's right…he doesn't know just how bad it is." _ She thought sadly.

The last creature finally exploded with a final arrow from Takeru. They all breathed a sigh of relief and limped toward the closest television in the store.

"Hikari…its time to shine." Tai said as cheerfully as he could manage.

"Digiport open!" Hikari stuck out her digivice toward the screen. Nothing happened at first, then a shaky image of Shin's home flashed on the screen just before they were bathed in the welcome light and vanished from the city.

"Welcome back!" Shin bounced about giving them pats on the back and, in the case of Hikari, a massive bear hug. Joe congratulated them and gave Yamato's shoulder a brief squeeze before his face turned serious.

"I wish we could rest but there's more trouble." Joe sighed.

"What? Please tell me you're joking Joe." Tai said as he collapsed onto one of the cushions.

"It's Mimi and Koushirou." Joe continued unabated.

"Yeah I know. We didn't seal Zui so Palmon's still trapped right?"

"Well that too but there is far more important things to deal with now. Mimi and Koushirou were taken by a very unfriendly Centarumon."

"What?" The group yelled in unison. Tai sat up abruptly and immediately regretted the decision; his body refused to comply anymore and seized up with fatigue forcing him back down. He saw Takeru and Yamato have similar reactions as Hikari tried to sooth him.

"There's no point in going after them in your condition. You need some rest." Shin stated flatly.

"We can't do that! We need to get to them asap!" Tai demanded.

"But…you three are the only ones who can fight since our digimon are out of commission. There's no point in going if you are unable to move." Joe agreed sadly.

"Our digimon…aren't we short one?" Hikari asked as she stroked Tai's back.

"Ah! Motimon! Man I am really having trouble keeping track of things…Shin can you send me to the cave entrance? Last we looked he was still there." Joe said as he clambered to his feet.

"Sure!" Shin complied happily. Yamato raised his hand shakily; this action was only observed by Sora and Takeru.

"Um who's the girl? And where exactly is this place?" He asked sheepishly.

* * *

Yamato was trying as best he could to digest all the information he had just had the privilege of receiving for what felt like hours on all current events. He was currently reclining across two cushions Sora had pushed together for him; she was seated beside his head at the table along with Hikari and Takeru. He raised his gun limply; it shaded his eyes from the soft light that was disturbing his attempt at rest.

"Gabumon can you hear me? If you are ignoring me now would be an excellent time to stop." He whispered to the unresponsive weapon. After being informed rather emphatically by Shin exactly how the weapons worked and how they came to be he had been trying to get Gabumon to talk to him, she had said he may not be able to talk to him due to the way Zui changed him but she couldn't be sure.

"Tai! Would you at least try to chew with your mouth closed, I am rapidly losing my will to live let alone _eat_." Sora complained.

"I jjmumph wmanmt tomph humphry." Tai attempted, causing the three digidestined seated opposite him to dodge and duck various bits of what once could have been referred to as food.

"I'm ashamed to call you my brother at this moment." Hikari said in a very even tone as she wiped a piece of food off her face. Her expression at that moment caused both Tai and Takeru to go blue, Takeru inched away from her and Tai slammed his head into his plate to escape the glare.

Yamato sighed and placed the gun on the floor next to him. His arm still ached, Joe had bandaged up his wounds with some linen Shin had provided but the cuts were pretty deep. Joe had suggested stitches' but Shin insisted that if it was a wound made by Zui then Zui would be the only one who could fix it. Sora had apologised to him repeatedly since she had punched Zui before they could convince her to finish the job. Yamato had forgiven her immediately since there was no way she could have known.

He peeked up at Sora by leaning his head back; she had finally resumed eating and was listening to Shin try to help Joe figure out how to work Koushirou's programme to release the other digimon.

Joe had found Motimon very easily when he went through the portal but was surprise to find the little mon was fully animated and extremely worried. Since Motimon had insisted it was Koushirou's programme that revived him Joe had to go all the way back to the original port they used when they escaped the ooze the first time. He really didn't seem to mind as long as the digimon may be restored. Unfortunately Koushirou wasn't around and figuring out how to use it without him was proving difficult.

Yamato smiled weakly when Sora noticed him staring at her. She smiled back and patted his forehead. He wondered if she was mad at him for what he said to Zui, she hadn't seemed very happy about it when it came up. He really wanted to talk to her alone but that was impossible thanks to the small quarters and the fact he really didn't think he could stand just yet. Sora seemed to realise something was bothering him and leaned over him so her eyes were parallel to his. "What's the matter? I mean beside the obvious." She smiled coyly as she spoke.

"Oh its nothing…I just wanted to tell you that I didn't mean what I said."

"Hmmmm? What you said…?" Sora pondered this for a moment, then her previously quizzical expression turned to disappointment. "Oh…well yeah it was a little sudden so I can understand if you just said it to confuse her."

It was his turn to look confused as she pulled away and started fidgeting with her fingers in her lap. "Well its just…I don't see how I could possibly feel that way, even though it shouldn't it makes me ashamed to have to lie like that."

Sora's disappointment turned to anger and the others watched on with no clue what was happening as she poured what remained of her ramen over Yamato's head.

"Sora! What did I do?" Yamato said with more surprise then anger as he shot up rubbing the sauce out of his eyes.

"You jerk!" Sora stood up and stomped out of the room into the garden leaving a perplexed Yamato to meet the gaze of the rest of the group.

"…I'll get a towel!" Shin ran to a nearby cupboard to retrieve the object and threw it over Yamato's head.

"What did you say to her?" Takeru asked as he tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Whmamph dph ymomu domph?" Tai added incoherently.

"I don't know! she just exploded." Yamato sighed.

"Well you definitely did something." Hikari accused in a friendly manner.

"Ha so much for Casanova over here. You're back to normal for less then half a day and you already strike out." Tai laughed as he finally finished swallowing.

Yamato glared at him. "I didn't strike out; I don't even know what I did!"

"Sure just like the rest of us buddy, just go apologise and hope for the best."

"And you would know about this kind of thing how? Last time I checked you were still single."

"Oh yeah? You saying I couldn't get a girl?"

"Nah I'm saying when you do you'll screw up ten times worse then anything I could ever do."

"Say's the man who has just offended the girl he practically confessed too not four hours ago."

"What? When did this happen?" Hikari's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together and invaded Yamato's personal space. He continued to glare at Tai who just smirked back at him.

"Yep, our blonde haired Casanova performed the literally dying art of 'death bed confession'!" Tai grinned manically at Yamato who narrowed his eyes giving him the 'don't you dare' look which Tai promptly ignored. Tai's eyes grew wide and he made a kissy face as he spoke. "I could never love you because I'm already in love!"

The colour rose to Yamato's cheeks as he felt four pairs of eyes on him waiting expectantly for him to deny or confirm. He just coughed into his fist.

"Well it's about time." Takeru smiled at him from behind Hikari.

"Really? You and Sora? I really need to pay more attention." Joe said.

"That's great! It took you long enough! Geez why does it take near death experiences for guys to be honest about their feelings." Hikari giggled.

"Hey I told her before that happened!" Yamato protested. Immediately all eyes were back on him and the faint tinge in his cheeks turn bright crimson.

"…Come again?" Tai deadpanned.

"Ok when and how, I'm going to need the details." Hikari beamed.

"I better go talk to her." Yamato edged backward before summoning energy he didn't realise he still had to run out into the garden.

"Sheesh so much for your cool guy image." Tai chuckled as he shook his head.

* * *

Sora sat staring out at the unnatural but beautiful pond on the far side of the garden. She was sitting on the porch, hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "_Jerk…why tell me that now?" _ She pondered angrily while fiddling with her shoelace with one hand. "_I mean I know we haven't even confirmed anything out loud and it was pretty embarrassing…but I really believed him." _

"Can I sit here?" Yamato asked cautiously. She tilted her head toward him and made a 'humpfh' noise which he took as a yes. He sat beside her and dangled one leg down bringing the other one up to rest his arm on. They sat there in silence for a few minutes until he couldn't stand it anymore. "Why are you mad at me?" He asked quietly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know you really lack tact. I thought you would be pretty good at this kind of thing."

He looked at her, that same questioning expression on his face. "What kind of thing?"

"Relationships, talking to girls, being charming you know all the usual pick up routine." She responded nonchalantly.

"Oh…so you're mad because I'm not charming?"

"Yes Yamato I'm mad because you're not charming." She deadpanned at him, when he didn't seem to realise she was joking she sighed. "Look I know that kind of thing is hard to say to someone and it's not like we've been together for a long time. In fact I don't think we have been together at all yet, I mean not really. I'm glad you did what you did because it worked and you are safe and alive…but even so it was a really cruel lie."

He looked hurt which surprised her; he then bit his thumb and shook a little as he spoke. "I know…I meant what I said when I told her she was lonely just like I used to be. When I was under her control I could feel it…her feelings and her fear. But still I don't think I can, after everything she's done I don't see how I could ever view her as a friend. Even now just thinking about her makes me mad, I really don't think I could forgive her and yet I gave her false hope. I feel sorry for her sure, but sorry enough to forget what she's done? I don't think so."

Her eyes widened gradually as he spoke, when he was finished he gave her a sheepish look. She burst out laughing which only baffled him further. "That was the lie? Guess this one's my bad."

"…Hah?"

"I thought you were talking about something else. Pretty stupid of me I know." She continued to giggle.

He looked at her incredulously for a moment, then the conversation he had just had with the others crept into his mind. "Oh...I see." He blushed again as he finally caught on to what had upset her. He was surprised yet again when she continued to laugh and jumped at him causing them both to land on their backs.

He looked up at her as she straddled him, their bodies not quite touching as she propped herself up with her knees and elbows. He felt slightly awkward with his legs dangling off the side and Sora practically lying on top of him. She smiled wistfully and lowered her face toward him; he stared up in anticipation and excitement as she gradually came closer. He prepared himself for the kiss he was sure was on its way when she surprised him yet again by lowering her lips past his and tilting her head toward his ear, he felt her hair tickle his cheek as she spoke. "Me too…even though you aren't that charming."

A faint blush rose to both their cheeks as she pulled back again. She smiled slyly at him before crashing her lips into his. Once again he was lost in the blissful sensation and he realised just how much he had actually missed her. She pulled away gently, biting his lower lip so lightly he wasn't sure if it really happened.

She locked her eyes with his, reddish brown eyes boring into sapphire blue ones. To him they sparkled with promises and unending comfort, he could have remained staring at her until he breathed his last but something else was evident in those beautiful orbs that caused him to press his hand against the back of her neck and force their lips together again. He wanted her, all of her. He suddenly felt possessive and a little afraid of how much he really wanted her; he wouldn't let her go now. She was permanently stuck with him.

His hand found its way up her shirt, caressing her shoulder blade and sliding slowly down until he hit her bra strap. He hesitated before making small circular motions on her spine just before the strap, almost as if he was begging for permission. Yet again this wonderful girl who he couldn't get away from even if he tried surprised him as her hand snaked its way up her top and grabbed the latch herself. He smiled into the kiss moving his hand around expectantly which aroused a muffled giggle from her.

"Well well I stand corrected _Casanova_."

They both froze instantly, Sora quickly redoing the already halfway undone strap. They both remained in place as they slowly turned their head toward the doorway. To their shock and horror Tai was standing there with his arms crossed and tapping his foot with a playful smirk on his face. If that wasn't bad enough they could also see Takeru and Hikari peeking their heads around the corner.

It was at this point that Yamato realised Sora was still on top of him and his hand was still halfway up her top. He pulled his hand out of her top as she quickly clambered off of him and straightened it out to fully cover her stomach. He remained stationary before looking up at Tai guiltily. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." Tai replied obviously trying to keep a straight face.

"Hey Nii-san I thought you said those kind of things are inappropriate for minors." Takeru jibbed innocently.

"I'm sure he did." Hikari agreed, with an evil grin on her face.

"I'm not a minor." Yamato stated defiantly.

"Oh right…so when I turn sixteen-" Takeru may have said something else but he was cut off by Tai's fist colliding with his face.

"What's that? You're going to wait until you're married? That's very noble of you." Tai said nonchalantly as he examined his fist as if he hadn't done anything.

"Onii-chan." Hikari said exasperatedly.

"Come here guy's you'll like what you see!" Joe called from within the house.

Yamato shook his head and took the hand Tai held out to him. "Guess it's time to go complete our group, you ready?" Tai stated his tone serious but laced with excited determination.

"Sure, it's about time I did my share." Yamato grinned back.


	13. Hunt

Chapter 13: Hunt

"No way in hell."

"But someone has to stay behind…you can't expect Joe to do it again he is the closest thing we have to a medic."

"A no is a no! Is that somehow not getting through your thick skull!"

Yamato and Sora were staring each other down, he had his arms crossed over his chest looking like a stubborn parent and she had her hands balled into fists. The others had wisely decided to stay out of this one as Sora was rapidly turning what Tai affectionately referred to as 'ape shit crazy'.

"My thick skull? You aren't even listening to reason!"

"Sure I am, last time I checked I could fight too!"

"If Sora wants to go I'll protect her!" Biyomon chirped happily apparently not getting the hint that this was not a good time to interrupt. The digimon, except for the ones in weapon form, had all evolved to their child forms after Joe had successfully used the programme after he found a file containing instructions Koushirou had managed to leave for them. The happy and tearful reunion was rudely interrupted when Yamato had declared Sora stay behind from the rescue mission.

"Yes you can fight but that doesn't change the fact that the most logical person to leave behind would be you!"

"And I defy logic by saying screw you I'm going even if I have to hog tie someone else to take my place!"

"Ha I call your bluff; no way you'd even know how to pull that one off."

Sora looked positively evil as she spoke. "Care to try me?" She seemed to consider something for a moment before adopting a different tact. "Anyway, if we are talking logic here haven't you left something crucial out?"

He raised his eyebrow at her and she smirked in response. "You're the only one here who is still injured! You are the one Zui is after! You'd be safest here!" She illustrated her point by poking his injured arm after each sentence.

"…Yeah but I have a weapon."

"Garudamon is just as strong as your weapon."

He fell silent for a moment, obviously extremely annoyed at how good her point was. She was still smirking triumphantly when the silence dragged on a little longer then he would have liked.

"Stay here."

"That isn't an argument that's just you repeating yourself! You've lost now suck up and take it like a man."

He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot suddenly unable to meet her gaze. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips as he sent Tai an imploring look.

"Okay that's enough from our two lovebirds here. Let's do this the smart way. Who wants to stay?" Tai offered stepping in between the two, Yamato offered him a grateful smile and Sora turned her head away.

"Well Yamato makes a good point but if its ok with you guys I think I should stay." Joe said quietly. Yamato gave him a quizzical look to which he just shrugged. "If neither of you are going to stay I'm the best choice right? I don't really have enough experience to count as a medic yet and Shin finds it easier to open ports if Hikari is the one doing it…"

"Good ole Joe. What would we ever do without you!" Tai grinned as he patted Joe on the back sending him sprawling forward.

"Have fewer things to hit?" Joe whined from his new position on the floor.

"No I don't think Tai would have to worry about that." Takeru stated with a slightly sour tone as he rubbed his face with the flat of his palm.

"Why T.K I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." Tai batted his eyelashes innocently at the younger boy.

"Tell that to my nose."

"My my the anger in this one." Tai jutted a thumb in Takeru's direction as he turned to Yamato. "You're a terrible mother."

"_Brother._" Yamato replied as if it were second nature to him.

Tai ignored him as he patted Sora's head happily. "Well done you, you won your first lovers spate! Shouldn't Yama kiss your feet or something?"

Sora swatted his hand away. "Stop it you big oaf." She jabbed his ribs playfully.

"Uh-oh better be careful there Yama this kitties got claws!" Tai laughed.

"I'm the only cat with claws here and if you don't mind we should get going so I can use them." Gatomon said standing by the tv.

Yamato walked up next to Sora as Shin prepared the portal. He shot her a sideways glance which made her turn her back to him. "_This might be harder then I thought…"_ He mused as they were engulfed in the familiar light.

* * *

"It's…dark."

"Duh it's a cave? And it used to house the darkness of the digital world so yeah it's dark."

"Well you don't have to be snippy I was just making conversation."

"It's not being snippy it's being sarcastic."

"Sure it is and my names Fiona Apple."

"Wait, who's Fiona Apple?"

"Just a singer…some of her songs are good."

"Oh that's a reliable recommendation coming from you."

"See! Snippy."

Yamato rolled his eyes as Tai gave him a smug look. They had been walking for what seemed like forever deeper into the cave but the scenery never seemed to change. He and Tai were in the front fumbling through the dark with Sora, Hikari and Takeru separated from them by several digimon and a few feet since Sora was still mad at him.

"…Tai?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Was I wrong?"

Tai made a big show of mulling it over, irritating Yamato to no end, before he answered. "Yep. Sora can take care of herself and as much right to come along as anybody else."

"Plus it was pretty sexist." Hikari popped up between them out of nowhere causing both boys to let out involuntary unmanly sounds.

"Kari do you want to kill me! You're only older brother!" Tai squealed.

She just shrugged and turned to Yamato who was trying to hide the fact that he had been terrified by her little trick. "You should apologise."

"And kiss her feet." Tai added.

"What is up with that Tai? It's such a weird request." Yamato said in an annoyed but slightly curious voice.

"Well I figure if I say it enough somebody has got to do it."

"…Yeah well while you deal with your issues I'm going to be back there." Hikari smiled playfully and skipped backward nearly tripping over Motimon who complained profusely. She responded by patting his head which soothed him immediately.

"So why aren't you going?" Tai asked innocently, which was hard for him.

Yamato looked over his left to see Sora, she was scowling and saying something he assumed was uncomplimentary to Biyomon who just nodded happily and pointed at him. Sora nodded angrily as if in confirmation when she caught him looking at her and stuck her tongue out.

"She's still mad." He said flatly.

"Well duh you haven't said or done anything to make her unmad, you think its magically going to happen?"

"Who knows, she could have a change of heart." He cocked a grin at Tai who laughed and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry this is just the first of many mistakes on your part to come."

"How is that supposed to make me _stop_ worrying?"

"Take solace in the fact that you will learn eventually."

"Never took you for an expert on women."

"Borrowed this great book about women from Kari."

"Lemme guess, you got this 'great book' throw into your face by Hikari?"

Tai gave him an astonished look. "How did you know?"

"Because there's no way you would further your knowledge on anything like that unless someone made you."

"Thanks for the confidence." Tai snorted in mock annoyance.

"Anytime fuzz for brains." He said happily as Tai clasped his hair protectively.

"Hey! This happens to be the finest head of hair west of the border."

Yamato glanced at Tai's hair as it attempted to bounce back even with his hands holding it down. "Well it certainly is something, but I think you know the finest head of hair is right here." He pointed to his own head in a triumphant gesture.

"_I thought you said girls were the only ones you argued about hair." _Agumon grumbled curiously in the back of Tai's mind.

"Yeah well that's mostly true bit Yamato is a bit of a different story." Tai grinned while Yamato gave him a perplexed look.

"What?"

"Oh just talking to Agumon."

"Ah…"

Yamato fumbled with the gun looped in his belt behind his back absentmindedly with a slightly forlorn look on his face.

Sora noticed the gesture from her view of his back. Her irritation melted into sympathy rapidly after that. She sighed, Hikari gave her an encouraging look which she smiled back at, locking her fingers in front of her she moved forward easily closing the distance, scattering annoyed digimon in the process and hooking her already intertwined hands over Yamato's head from behind.

"Wha-!" Yamato's forward momentum caused him to tumble backward into her when she covered his eyes.

"Guess who." She teased in a low voice.

"…fire breathing dragon?" He responded smoothly as her grip released and he spun around. She gave him a little pout and shoved his chest. "You bet. I'm gonna torch you next time."

He considered this for a moment and then paled a bit when he realised it may well be true. They had another staring contest for a few minutes as she pouted and he made a 'do I really have to?' face. Eventually he leant forward and rested his forehead on hers; gazing into her bemused orbs he let a cheeky half-smile cover his face as he spoke. "Sorry."

"Not good enough." She said pretending to still be mad.

"Sorry I was a jerk?"

"That's better." She giggled and pecked him on the tip of his nose.

"You guys are worse than the terrible twosome over there! How will we ever make any progress?" Tai stated good naturedly as he shoved there faces apart with his hands.

"Tai do you always have to insult us when you talk about any other couple?" Hikari shook her head while Takeru just laughed lightly.

Tai was about to respond when the ground beneath them started to shake and the whole cave seemed to boom out an odd rumbling sound.

"What th-AHHHH!" Tai started as the floor gave way and digimon and human alike cried out and tumbled into the abyss.

* * *

"They could have at least put a chair in here! I can't stand all this sand…" Mimi trailed off as she wrung out the hem of her skirt. Koushirou nodded absentmindedly at her surveying his surroundings for the umpteenth time. The cell was carved into the wall of a cave of some sort; the roof had moss and slime coating its surface and slopped down so it almost touched their heads when they sat against the wall away from the thick, very solid metal. Across from them was an identical cell and the hall between them ended with the back of the cave to the left and a decrepit wooden door was the only entrance on the right. Each cell was only a few meters wide either way making for very cramped conditions.

Centarumon had brought them here what felt like day's ago and thrown them inside without a word. Koushirou had caught a glimpse of what was beyond that door when he pushed them in; it was a massive hall with black marble walls and spiral beams that extended all the way to the formidably high ceiling. There were grand doors lining every side placed relatively close together. The floor was cool stone that made his feet cold even though his shoes were still on. He hadn't seen anyone digimon or otherwise even though it had been about the size of two football fields.

Both he and Mimi jumped as the door handle jangled before it swung open with a loud creak. Koushirou subconsciously placed Mimi's hand in his as they watched it with apprehension. Centarumon trotted in with a limp girl with short black hair in his arms, her body was riddled with scratches and what appeared to be blood dribbled down the side of her mouth but the bleak light in the prison area made it too dark to tell for sure. Centarumon placed her in the empty cell, shackling her to the wall forcing her into a sitting position with her arms above her in a Y shape.

"Why are we being held here?" Koushirou found his voice just as Centarumon was about to make his exit. The horse-like digimon paused for a second before speaking in a low voice. "You will remain here until we have brought the others. Then the trial will begin."

"Trial?" Koushirou questioned desperately but Centarumon just left, closing and locking the door behind him. Mimi whimpered and crawled over to the bars to get a closer look at the new resident of the opposite cell. "Hey you okay? Can you hear us?" She asked softly.

Koushirou went over to the bars as well and tried to get a better look at the girl. She didn't look like any digimon he had ever seen but there was something familiar about her face. "_She looks a lot like Shin…!" _ He pushed his face against the bars, though he was repulsed by the feeling of grimy metal against his skin he had to get a closer look. Her head was down turned due to the unnatural position she was forced to sit in so he couldn't make out her face that well and her body couldn't have been more different from Shin's but he knew it had to be her.

"…Zui?" He whispered cautiously. Mimi shot him an alarmed look then turned her attention back to the girl.

"Yamato…?" She was stirring and groaned loudly, sounds and sensations coming back to her slowly and fuzzily. She tilted her head up as best she could and examined the faces of the teens in the opposite cell, her eyes shot open as it dawned on her that she was in a dark cell. She was in the _dark_. She thrashed against her restraints trying to summon her powers, the shackles cackled and buzzed and the electricity she had only ever dished out and never actually felt flowed through her body painfully.

"Hey calm down you're hurting yourself!" Mimi yelled from across the room.

Zui took a few deep breaths and as soon as she felt she could move again she craned her neck toward them, her arms ached against the chains as she pulled forward as far as was physically possible. Once she had finally managed to take them in she slumped back down against the wall. "Oh…you're some of Yamato's friends. Where is this place?"

"You are Zui aren't you? What did you do to our friends! Where's Yamato!" Koushirou demanded without raising his voice too high.

"Yeah I'm Zui all right. Yamato's off with his friends, your friends too I guess, and they should be grateful."

"Grateful? You're the one who got us all into this mess!" Mimi accused.

"I am so tired of all of you saying that no matter how true it may be. They should be grateful because I wouldn't be in this," She gestured to her surroundings "mess if I had just taken Yamato back from them and let them deal with those bloody things."

"The translucent ape creatures?" Koushirou breathed thoughtfully.

"The T.A.C." Mimi chimed helpfully.

Zui narrowed her eyes at them. "The what?"

"Oh that's just the name I've given them for now."

"…Okay _very_ imaginative. Did they nab you too?"

"In a manner of speaking." Koushirou answered keeping it vague on purpose.

"Well doesn't matter much now I guess, we're pretty much doomed. No ones going to come to our rescue and I'm currently powerless apparently."

"You…you took Palmon too. Give her back!" Mimi turned from relatively happy and helpful to spitting venom in less then a minute.

"That little green digimon?" Zui seemed to ponder for a moment before continuing. "Tell you what, we ever get out of here I'll get her back for you."

Mimi's jaw dropped to the floor "What? Just like that? No 'You'll never see her again muhahaha'?"

"Not really my scene, that's more Ethan's area of expertise." She made a dismissive motion with her hand. "I just wanted two things…I should have quit while I was ahead." She sighed.

"Two things?" Mimi questioned.

"My freedom…and the one who gave it to me." She stated sadly.

"Well that's sad and all but you didn't really care who you hurt when you did it." Mimi crossed her arms and stuck up her nose. "You basically sucked the life out of the digital world! Even if the digimon you 'converted' aren't dead when they come back they won't remember anything about their old lives, that's almost the same as killing them!"

"I needed the energy to escape."

"Why so much though? Couldn't you have just used a small portion instead of the whole world?" Koushirou mused aloud. Zui shrugged before answering. "That place was really, _really_ hard to get out of."

They all fell silent after that. Koushirou turned away and braced his back and one foot against the bars cupping his elbow with his left hand and using his right to pinch his chin. "_She dosen't know anything about this place…whats going on? What trial?"_

* * *

"Ow ow OW! Someones got their claw in my baaaccckkkk!" Tai howled miserably hopping up and trying to reach the painful spot.

"It wasn't my fault; you shouldn't have landed on me." Gatomon said with annoyance.

"Is everyone alright?" Yamato asked as he shook the dust out of his hair.

"Yeah…" Sora replied clasping onto his arm a little shakily.

"We're ok." Takeru added as he helped Hikari to her feet. The digimon were already up and inspecting the surroundings.

"No I'm not alright I've been impaled!" Tai yelled angrily, jumping from Yamato to Sora and pointing avidly at his back.

"So were do you think we've landed?" Yamato ignored him completely.

Tai whimpered in resignation and took in the surroundings as well, it looked exactly like the cave they had fallen through except for one crucial difference, there was a small wooden door fit snugly into the stone wall. The digimon were already waiting beside it faithfully.

"Well best lead we've had so far right?" Tai strolled over and took the handle.

"Wait! It could be dangerous; we should ready our weapons first." Yamato took his gun out to demonstrate his point. Dark light shone around him as his weapon transformed and dropped safely into his hands.

Tai rolled his eyes but complied, Takeru followed suit with more enthusiasm and a white glow surrounded them both leaving them with their weapons in hand.

"Sorry Biyomon you can't evolve in here, not enough room." Sora comforted the bird when she started to look like she felt a little left out.

"It's not that Sora…when will they go back to normal?"

Sora was surprised, she hadn't really thought about what the digimon thought of the new transformation since so much was going on. "_Shin never did say how to turn them back." _ A little bubble of worry formed in the back of her mind as she patted Biyomon's head. "It will be fine, I'm sure when this is all over we can turn them back to their original selves."

"Okay on the count of three. One, two…three!" Tai shoved the door open taking a defensive stance as soon as he was through. He dropped his stance immediately as he too in the sight.

"_Wow…it's big." _ MetalGreymon rumbled.

Tai let out an approving whistle as he lowered his sword and walked into the room. It spanned outward in a large semicircle from the door that he came through; the walls were made of black marble and jutted out leaving enough space for a top floor all around the semicircle. On either side of the top floor there were large ornate chairs each with a different symbol that Tai thought resembled ancient digiworld writing. In the centre of the top floor where the two ends of the semicircle met was a giant throne larger than all the other chairs, black crystal flowed out the back creating a branch like support for the large gem at the head of the throne. The gem was an unearthly black that seemed to suck you in, Tai found himself unable to pull his gaze away and for a moment he thought he saw the lapping of an ocean within its depths.

"What the hell…it looks like an old fashioned court room." Tai was knocked out of his transfixed state as Takeru spoke behind him.

"I think it's creepy." Hikari whispered. Tai noticed she kept trying to look anywhere but the gem.

"They're not in here…how about door number one?" Yamato said casually as he pointed out the large, intricate door at the far end of the room directly under the throne.

"Um but there's a door number two." Sora pointed at a small simple door directly to their right.

"Vote time because there is no way we are splitting up, didn't work so well last time. So scary door or regular door?" Tai queried.

The group looked to the ominous yet oddly beautiful door far ahead of them and then simultaneously tilted to the side to check out the simple one.

"Regular." Digimon and human alike said in unison and headed for the door.

* * *

"Isn't this a bit odd?" Yamato questioned cautiously as they made their way down the long hall, it had a low ceiling compared to the grand room they had just left and relatively demure stone walls.

"What the whole grand room at the bottom of a dark scary cave?" Tai scoffed as his feet crunched on the dark sand beneath his feet.

"Well yeah but also how we haven't run into any living thing, I haven't even seen a bug."

"I didn't really think about that, aren't we lucky there are no guards or anything?"

"That's the problem, it's almost like they don't care about who's coming through."

"Maybe they don't expect it?" Hikari sounded quite thoughtful as she joined the conversation, almost as if she were talking to herself.

"Or maybe they are certain they can take care of an intruder with no problem so there's no need for precautions."

"Yama the pessimist has officially returned." Tai waggled his finger at him with false annoyance.

Yamato scowled at the offending hand and swatted it away. "I'm just being realistic."

"Well we can at least be optimistic until the shit hits the fan. We don't have to worry about it till it happens." Tai rubbed his hand as he spoke.

"You really live in the moment don't you?" Yamato was a bit exasperated but still managed a smile.

"Sure do! You should try it some time. Ok we're here!"

"And where exactly is 'here'?" Sora gave him a friendly look of irritation.

"Door number three." Tai proclaimed with a wide grin. He threw the door open without a count and ran into the next room slamming head first into something very solid knocking him onto the floor.

"Ow…oh um sorry about that haha." He said rubbing the newly forming lump on his head. Stopping slowly he blinked a few times trying to decide if the hooves he was seeing were the real deal. He looked up quickly and tightened his grip on his sword.

Centarumon towered before them; his arms crossed staring down at the boy at his feet. Kicking the sand with his hoof a couple times he bent down to be face to face with Tai. "I've been waiting. Thought I would have to go get you myself."

"Tai get away from him!" Yamato seethed grabbing Tai by under his arms and pulling him back toward the door. Takeru stood with an arrow taunt in his bow aimed directly at Centarumon's chest.

"We just came to pick up our friends, is it possible you could just give them back?" Takeru said with an eerily friendly smile.

Centarumon was counting them by examining each of them quickly; stopping at Takeru he shook his head in disappointment. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Only four of you came? I was told to gather all of you. This makes my job more difficult."

"Gather all of us? Why?" Sora asked confidently.

"You'll find out soon enough. Come with me I'll take you too your friends."

"Really? No catch?" Tai said tentatively standing in a defensive pose.

"You will have to forfeit your defenders."

"Defenders?"

"Your digimon."

"Man there always has to be a catch."

"Look we just want to collect our friends and leave, we don't want to fight." Yamato said while lowering his weapon.

"I don't wish to waste my energy either but I cannot let you leave and in order to proceed you must leave your defenders in my care."

"No can do." Tai said simply. He indicated to Yamato and Takeru to flank their opponent, following his command they both darted in opposite directions and let their arrows and bullets fly.

The exhaust pipes on Centarumon's back roared to life, leaping backward to avoid the combined blast so the arrows and bullets ran into each other creating a small explosion of energy, Tai raised his shield to defending himself and the others behind him from the blast.

The room they had entered had black marble walls just like the ones in the first room except there were doors lining every side, there were large marble pillars and the floor was white alabaster; the blast sent a large crack running through it.

Before the smoke from the explosion could clear Biyomon and Gatomon turned to their partners. "Sora!" Biyomon implored. "Hikari!" Gatomon commanded.

"Right!" Sora and Hikari said in unison grabbing their digivices. The two digimon were enveloped in the light of evolution until Garudamon and Angewomon were left standing in their place.

"Give up Centarumon, you don't have a chance against all of us!" Tai demanded.

"Even so I must complete my orders."

"I thought you guys hated taking orders." Tai scoffed.

"I cannot deny the one who saved me."

"Saved you?" Sora asked softly.

"Enough idle chatter. Prepare to be defeated."

"Still pretty damn cocky for a guy on the losing side!" Tai raised his sword and brought it plummeting down. On this command Garudamon and Angewomon charged forward. "Crimson Claw!" Garudamon sent her attack straight toward Centarumon's chest, he swiftly dodged by leaping into the air only to be assaulted by Angewomon's Celestial Arrow. The arrow buried itself into Centarumon's right shoulder close to his heart; he let out a grunt of anguish and landed back on the ground with a stagger.

"Just give up; we don't want to kill you." Hikari pleaded from her position behind Tai.

Centarumon responded by lifting his arm and aiming directly at them. "Solar ray!" The beam of energy soared toward them, Tai readying his shield to defend the girls behind him. Takeru jumped between them and the blast preparing his energy shield, the blast bounced off it and collided with the ceiling sending debris crashing to the ground.

While Takeru deflected the blast Yamato had gone unnoticed by Centarumon, this allowed him to get close enough to jump onto the mighty digimon's back and stick his gun to the back of his head. "You've lost. Surrender." Yamato said calmly.

Centarumon growled, managing to turn his head just enough to see Yamato standing on his back. He looked around him for a way to remove the boy without letting him blow his head off. His eyes fell upon the arrow still lodged halfway in his chest. "I will not surrender. That is what I promised." In one swift motion he placed the palm of his hand against the arrow and pushed it all the way in.

Yamato was forced to leap away from the unexpected attack; recovering quickly and running over to stand on Tai's right. Centarumon stood still staring at the ceiling. They all stayed on alert as they watched him; he let out a barely audible sigh before turning toward them.

"You could have made this easy." Centarumon choked out. Plunging his hands into his chest pulling out a large black lump, the thing had deep black sections jutting out making it look like an unrefined gemstone.

Yamato was watching with morbid fascination as Centarumon lifted the object above his head with both hands. For a reason he couldn't place his heart rate was skyrocketing, turning to the others he saw they were totally fixated as well then something clicked within his brain.

"GET DOWN!" As soon as the words left his mouth Centarumon let loose a Solar ray into the thing. It bulged growing larger and larger until it finally exploded with a massive sound shaking the entire foundation of the room and blowing all the doors out.


	14. Trial

Authors note:

Sorry how long this has taken to update but as I said on my profile page my computer has crashed taking the final chapter I had almost completed with it. To make it up to you guys this chapter is almost twice as long as average. I had to write this on my phone...my thumbs ache. This is the final chapter but there will be an epilogue so enjoy! A big thankyou to everybody who read and enjoyed this story, it was a lot of fun for me! Anyone who reviews gets a digital cookie, its shaped like a voltorb!

* * *

Chapter fourteen: Trial

Koushirou steadied himself as the entire room began to shake. He crouched over Mimi, who was still sitting on the floor, and grabbed her to shield her from the storm of sand that was kicked up as the old decrepit door rocketed off its hinges slamming into the far wall. He sqeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip on Mimi.

"Koushi! Earth to Koushi!" his eyes snapped open and he looked down at Mimi. She was giving him an amused look and brought her face so close to him that their noses were touching.

"It's been over for a while now...not that I mind. I think its adorable how you can't keep your hands off me." She giggled up at him, shifting her body closer so that her ample bosom brushed against his chest.

"Tha-tha-thats not it! I was just trying to keep the sand off of you since you seem to detest it so much!" He yelped, releasing his hold and backing off a few steps with a deep blush blooming on his cheeks. Mimi pouted and lifted herself off the floor. She sashayed over to his new position against the wall and bent toward him with her fists on her hips.

"You didn't want to hold me?" She questioned. Koushirou felt like his face was on fire and he couldn't quite find any words. This alarmed him since he had never felt this tongue tied in his life. He started stammering incoherently. Mimi tilted her head and let out a small giggle.

"You are so cute Koushi~"

Koushirou blinked at her. He gingerly stroked the side of her face with the back of his hand. "The only cute one here is standing right in front of me." he whispered. She tilted her head toward his touch, the perplexed look she was sporting let him know she hadn't quite heard him. He slowly leaned toward her and placed a very chaste kiss on her unsuspecting lips. She stared at him in astonishment.

"You kissed me?"

"Yeah...isn't that ok?"

"Ok!?" Mimi squealed happily. "It's better then ok!" She was smiling radiantly. He was still a little confused but he loved the warm feeling he got from her happiness. He leaned forward for a second kiss when the door to the cell swung open. Mimi whipped her head around to see several T.A.C. ambling into the cell. It wrapped an elongated arm around each of their waists, lifting them off the ground and carrying them out.

Koushirou noticed Zui was also being brought out though she was still shackled. As they exited he took in the state of the previously immaculate room. Only two of the eight original pillars remained standing but even those were covered in cracks and missing chunks. Both the ceiling and floor were riddled with cracks ranging from small enough to resemble a mosaic to massive lines. Large sections of the ceiling had fallen to the ground.

Koushirou frowned as they approached a small opening that led into a stone hallway with a low ceiling and sand for a floor. This wasn't what caused him concern however, it was the area surrounding the entrance. Blood speckled the floor and walls on either side, but one section in particular worried him. A jagged piece of debris was jutting out of the ground; its side was coated in a dark liquid and there was a large smear of the crimson essense screaming against the white floor. It looked like whoever had been the unfortunate owner of the blood had been dragged toward the opening.

Koushirou closed his eyes as they were carried throught the hallway. He wished desperately that it hadn't been his friends who were involved in that blast but his logical side was against him.

He observed the new room quickly, briefly examing the ornate chairs on either side of the room and the dark gem at the head of the throne in the centre before he spotted eight tall wooden chairs with their backs to him in the middle of the room. There was also a triangular cage on the far right side of the chairs, Koushirou saw Zui get thrown into it before he was brought around and thrust into one of the chairs.

"Glad to see they didn't hurt you Kou..." Tai's voice wafted toward him and he turned his head to see his friend leaning forward from his position two chairs down from Koushirou. Koushirou scowled at the site of his friends as the T.A.C. clamped his wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of the chair with the built in clamps. Mimi was treated in a similar fashion on the chair to his left.

Hikari was in the seat next to Koushirou on his right. She was covered in filth and small splodges of blood from various nicks and cuts. She had her eyes closed in apparent pain from a wound on her head, blood was caked into her hair around it. She was bracing her head against the back of her chair.

Takeru was in the next seat beside her leaning toward her trying desperately to close the small gap between them, of course it was impossible due to the restraints but he was trying anyway. He was in a similiar state to Hikari though the only serious injury was a large puncture wound on his left calve.

Tai was next, his shirt was torn down the left side and there were various bruises covering his arms and legs. His left eye was forced shut due to caked in blood from a deep cut just above it. His right wrist was twisted in a grotesquely unnatural direction against his restraints, it was obviously broken and had turned a disturbing shade of purpley black.

Sora was seated on the furthest end to the right beside the triangular cage. Though she was also covered in dirt and scratches she was the least injured of all of them. She was leaning toward Yamato who was sitting between her and Tai repeating his name over and over but getting no response. Her lemon blouse was stained an odd reddish/brown colour in large places but by the way she moved it was obvious the blood hadn't come from her.

Yamato's head lolled forward, his eyes closed and features contorted into a grimace. His golden hair was covered in blood and dirt, parts of it were plastered against his forehead thanks to the thin sheen of sweat covering his pale complexion. The cloth covering his injured arm was soiled and had come slightly undone. He had a deep cut stretching along the right side of his ribcage. It had been bleeding for a while, saturating his clothing and running down the seat and leg of the chair creating a small puddle by his foot. The blood had started to congeal around the wound, fusing it to his shirt and slowing down the flow.

"Yamato! Are you alright? Its me, Zui!" Sora scowled at Zui as she pushed against the bars of her new prison in an attempt to see him better. Her view was mostly blocked by Sora who wouldn't have moved even if she could.

"Don't you dare talk to him. It's your fault we're here in the first place!" Sora hissed at her. Zui's concern for Yamato quickly turned to rage.

"Why not!? I let him leave with all of you, fat lot of good that did him! I can't heal wounds I didn't make, what did you do to him!" Zui was frantic; Sora could tell it wasn't just about her concern for Yamato, she seemed terrified of something in the room.

Sora flinched at the comments. She bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. "I didn't want him to get hurt anymore...but he's so compulsive." Her voice was cracking a little and she was trying to hold back her tears. Her mind drifted back to less then a few hours ago...

_The blast threw them all. Sora smashed into the wall, hard enough to send her falling forward after the hit. She groaned, everything sounded muffled and her vision was incredibly blurry. She thought she might have heard Tai's voice from somewhere to the left of her but she couldn't be sure. Rolling onto her back with several grunts of protest she couldn't quite hear even though it was her own voice. She lay spreadeagled waiting for the throbing in her back to die down._

_She watched with detached fascination as a large crack crawled across the ceiling. She still couldn't think properly and barely registered the danger when a piece gave way. It came hurtling towards her and she closed her eyes since the sight of it was making her feel sick._

_She felt the floor vibrate beneath her as the debris slammed into the ground beside her narrowly missing her outstretched hand. She heard someone calling her name, the husky voice was enough to clear her head. Opening her eyes she squinted at the blurry image above her. Eventually features became visible: golden hair, concern and pain filled cobalt orbs, sharp facial features and perfect lips that were slightly chapped now._

_Yamato was crounching over her much the same way she had done back at Shin's place. He looked relieved to see her open her eyes. Smiling at him she slowly reached up and laced her hands around the back of his neck. He let out a sharp hiss of pain when she pulled him toward her waiting lips. She froze, feeling something warm splash onto her side. Releasing him quickly she glanced toward the direction of the discomfort and glared angrily at the dark liquid covering her yellow blouse. _

_The debris was sticking into Yamato's side, he grunted in pain as he fell onto Sora releasing himself from the rubble. She struggled into a sitting position with his head resting limply on her shoulder._

_"Yamato what did you do!? You can't be so reckless!" She whispered urgently into his ear. He chuckled softly thought the action caused him some discomfort._

_"Does that mean I don't get a thankyou?" He whispered back tilting his head toward her face to see her reaction. Smiling weakly and rolling her eyes she cupped his face with both her hands and brought his gaze level with her own._

_"Thankyou." A soft kiss on his forehead. "Thankyou." One on each eye. "Thankyou." several fluttering along his cheekbones. Even though his injury ached he couldn't help but moan softly at how wonderful her lips felt against his skin._

_"Thankyou." She whispered, her mouth hovering just centimeters away from his own. She leaned into him, his lips moved against hers hungrily. Ignoring the pain he pushed himself forward. He ran his tongue over her lips several times, this made her open her mouth slightly to let out a small giggle and he took the opportunity eagerly. She let him deepen the kiss and moaned involuntarily at the skill of his tongue. _

_She was about to return the favor with a few tricks of her own when something wrapped around her waist. Her eyes widened in alarm as she was ripped away from him. She watched him slump forward without her to hold him up, whipping her head around angrily she saw it was a T.A.C. that had taken her away from him. She yelled many choice swears at another one that had lifted Yamato off the floor ignoring his injury, he cried out and then lay still in its grasp. _

...He had yet to wake up since they had been brought here. _"If I had moved he wouldn't have gotten hurt_." Sora thought remorsefully.

Yamato shifted and groggily lifted his head. Where was he? What had he been doing again? Sight, smell and feeling seeped back into his conciousness as he realised they had been brought back into that odd throne room. He squinted at a black blob floating several feet away.

"Glad to see your still with us...that thing has our digimon in it." Yamato nodded slowly at Tai's words.

"Yamato I'm so glad you're awake." He whipped around at the sound of Sora's voice and regretted it immediately as pain shot through his ribs.

"Don't move too quickly!" Sora pleaded urgently. He gave her a small smile which she returned, he was about to say something to try and erase the sad look on her face when several minature tornados kicked up around the ornate chairs and throne. The digital writing above each seat began to glow and morph into different symbols none of the digidestined recognised. When the tornados died down each chair was filled with digimon they had never seen before.

On the seat to the left closest to the digidestined position in the centre of the room sat a female digimon that looked practically human. Her body was perfectly curved with sensual hips and a generous bust. Two pairs of black wings protruded from her back, one small haggard set near her head and one longer set resting casually on the armrests. She was wearing a purple robe which hung low revealing her shoulders and chest, it had a thick black ribbon wrapping around where fabric met skin that extended past her forearms creating gravity defying loops. Her black hair was held back by a golden headpiece with arrow like protrusions on either side. Her clothing was black latex with golden thread extending from several yellow gemstones, one in the center of her chest and one on either knee. She was examinig her golden finger like extensions on her right hand, the tips looked deathly sharp.

On the middle seat on the left clinging to the backrest was a crocodile like digimon. Its snout had metal plating all along it that stopped between its blood red eyes. Rows off razor sharp teeth could be glimpsed each time it opened its mouth. Its body was red with short legs that had sharp claws and blue fins along the joints. Its tail split into two at its base, along them and its back were blue flaps of skin that almost looked like blue flames. These ended in fin like tips on the end of each tail. It snorted multicolored smoke from its nostrils and looked as annoyed as could be.

In the next chair on the left closest to the throne was a digimon with great wings that were purple on the inside. He was human shaped, though quite a bit larger then the average human, with a purple cloth wrapped around his head that only allowed his sharp, white curved horns and red eyes to be seen. He was wearing a thick red robe, a strip of white ran down the middle of it and formed two bands on either arm. The white fabric was gold trimmed along its edges. There was a zig-zag of gold going down the centre of the white ending in a upside down pentagram like star. There were gold stars on the white bands on his arms as well. He had a large beaded necklace that ended in a golden pendant with a yellow cat like eye in its centre. He was sitting perfectly rigid.

In the seat closest to the digidestined on the right sat an adorable tiny digimon. He had a round, chubby head with a cat like mouth and smaller body covered in chains. The chains all connected to a strange device that resembled an alarm clock on his belly. His little hoof like feet stuck out beneath the chains. He was brown with bat like ears that were purple in the centre and thin ram horns that curved down the back of his head. There were several bone like protrusions along his head leading to several pink slash scars on his forehead. His eyes were closed and he was snuggled into a corner of the far too large seat with a snore bubble rising and falling with his breathing.

In the centre seat on the right sat another digimon that had a human shape. He was wearing black combat gear with various metal guards over his forearms and shins. He had a black mask that juted up his head, it vaguely resembled a bikers helmet but had groves in different places. His hair was spiky, blond and seemed to shoot out from behind the mask. He had a red handkerchief tied around his right arm. His legs were crossed and was resting his head against the base of one of the twin single barrel pistols that he held in either hand.

On the seat closest to the throne on the right sat a digimon that resembled an old man. His face had a golden hue to it and his nose was like a massive beak. He had a long silver beard that extended all the way down to his feet. He was wearing red shoes and very baggy dusty green trousers. He had several pairs of red bat like wings that ranged for relatively small to rather large. A poncho covered most of his upper torso, it was a dark color with large red upside down triangles and purple trimming. He had a necklace that was composed of many rows of yellow fangs under another necklace of large red circular gems. His hands were large with long yellow nails and many golden rings adorned his fingers. One of his giant hands was curled around an intricate staff. The staff was long and thick with silver decoration snaking its way up. The top of it was some sort of skull that could have belonged to a digimon or an animal. In the jaw of the skull was a massive bright red spherical gem. He was rapping his fingers on his armrest impatiently and regarding the digidestined with disgust.

All of these digimon were new to the group but the one that disturbed Yamato the Most was the small child occupying the throne. He had four pairs of magnificent angelic wings sprouting from his back. He had soft blond hair with two fluffy wings sticking out on either side of his head. He was wearing white linen which stretched over his body leaving his left shoulder, arms and legs bare. Ancient purple digital writing crawled up his body starting on his foot and crawling up until it ended on his cheek just below his eye. His eyes were metallic silver and his wrists and ankles were glad in holy rings. His legs were too short to reach the floor so he was swinging them back and forth playfully. He smiled at the digidestined and swung his arms wide.

"Welcome to your trial digidestined! I am Lucemon, these digimon you see before you are my loyal entourage! The lovely lady over there is Lilithmon, the reptilian fellow is Leviamon, the stoic one to my left is Daemon, that's sleepy little Belphemon, the grumpy ones Beelzemon and finally this elderly genius is Barbamon. Now that you have been introduced to your judges its your turn to plead your case." Lucemon looked pleased with his introductions and waited expectantly for the digidestined to speak.

"Aren't we missing one?" Lilithmon asked quickly pointing to the empty chair beside Mimi.

"The child of Reliabilty won't be collected, he is with 'His' possession of light and 'He' doesn't want her involved anymore then she already has been." Lucemon shrugged.

Tai's eyebrow twitched in annoyance before he yelled. "Trial? What are we accused with? What fucking gives you the right to 'charge' us with anything."

Lucemon was amused by Tai's outburst and pointed to the gem above his head. "I really couldn't care less about any of this, but we kinda have a deal with 'Him'. 'He' says that you have interferred where you don't belong. The child of Friendship and Love have given his possession-" he pointed at Zui's cage, she backed away from his accusing finger even though he was far away "-powers she wasn't meant to have. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough already, the child of Friendship set her free and she escaped. 'He' doesn't like it when you touch his things." Lucemon said the last part as if it it should have been obvious.

Tai growled. "Bullshit. This is fucking ridiculous, you're acting as if we meant for all of that to happen. If you know so much already you should know Yamato and Sora didn't even know they had given her anything, and Yamato definitely didn't want to help her escape! We didn't even know she fucking existed till a week or so ago!"

"My my what a cute boy." Lilithmon oozed suductively. Tai shot her a glare which just made her smile grow wider.

"He's right this is a goddamn waste of time...lets just get it over with." Beelzemon said earning himself a warning look from Lilithmon.

"I have a few questions." Koushirou said calmly. "Firstly how come we have never seen or heard of or from you in all of our adventures? You seem to know a lot about us, were you involved with Gennai's work? And if we are such a problem for this mystery person you keep speaking of how come we have never been confronted before?"

Barbamon scoffed and spoke in a derogatory tone. "Gennai's work? I wasn't even the least bit interested in that little pet project of theirs. The fact that you think we were involved feels like an insult."

"Haha...well to answer your other questions 'He' found you rather interesting and wanted to see how you'd far against the, er, horrors of the digital world. You weren't considered an issue until you meddled with her the last time you were here. To be honest he was pretty pissed that you entered that cave in the first place." Lucemon explained happily.

"Can we finish this? I want to go..." Leviamon whined as he crawled behind his chair.

"No need to be impatient. Child of Courage, Tai was it? You are the leader right? Well heres the chance to have your say on behalf of your teammates, what say you in their defence?" Lucemon was bordering on giddiness as he spoke, for reasons unknown to Tai he seemed to be enjoying this immensely.

"I say you let us all go, we haven't done anything wrong." Tai stated firmly.

"Okay, everyone can vote now." Lucemon shrugged.

"I say we should excute the children of Friendship and Love since they caused this whole mess. And we should also get rid of the children of Light and Hope since they may become...problematic in the future." Lilithmon proclaimed.

"Just kill them all so I can leave! Belphemon agrees with me." Leviamon whined. Lucemon giggled but said nothing against the prompted vote.

"The children of Friendship and Love should pay for their folly." Barbamon stated with disgust.

"I agree, they should suffer for their misjudgement." Daemon said, speaking for the first time.

"This whole thing is stupid, theres no sport in killing them in this state. Just let them leave." Lucemon quirked an eyebrow at Beelzemon's vote yet still remained silent.

"Well then thats two votes for your release, two votes to execute all of you, two votes for just two of you and one vote for four. That means I get to cast the deciding vote!" Lucemon was overly pleased with this revelation. He jumped off his throne and sauntered over to Tai, he leaned close to his ear and Tai resisted the urge to headbutt him. "I think I'll let you live...in the future I want to see if you can stop me." He whispered so low that Tai had to strain to hear him.

Tai gaped at him as he danced back on his heels and spun around. "Execute the children of Friendship and Love, they are the ones that were dumb enough to anger 'Him'." Lucemon said dismissively waving his hand in Yamato and Sora's direction.

"You said you'd let us go!" Tai protested. Lucemon laughed and spun around, winking at Tai before jumping backwards onto his throne.

"I said _you _not all of you." He stated simply causing Tai to growl again.

"Finally the judgement is over...I'm leaving." Leviamon whined as a small tornado enveloped him, seconds later he was gone.

Yamato cast Sora a worried look, to people who didn't know her well she would have just looked angry but he could tell that was just a mask to hide her fear. These digimon were strong, even without using Koushirou's laptop he could tell their digimon would have trouble even if they could somehow get them loose and allow them to evolve. He sighed, trying desperately to stay awake. His injury was going slightly numb and he knew he needed medical attention very soon or he might not make it even if they all miraculously escaped.

"The sentencing is final. 'He' will deliver their judgement." Lucemon pointed at the gem above his head. As if on cue dark energy began swirling around the crystal slowly gaining speed and form.

"Wait!" Yamato croaked out. It hurt to talk at this point so he figured he might as well give what he had left to the one he loved. "I did it...I gave Zui the power to contact our world and gave her my own body as a vessel for her escape. If someone must die it should be me."

Lucemon considered it for a second before a shout interrupted his thoughts. "Fuck that! Jesus Yamato how many times are you going to try and throw yourself under the train? I don't want you to die! You're going to live and come home with me!" It was Sora who had cried out, digimon and humans alike stared at her, she was red in the face and panting a little.

"You tell him Sora! Theres no way we're leaving anyone behind, I think you've been reckless enough for one lifetime." Tai laughed despite the situation.

"Jeez Nii-san I swear how many times are we going to have to convince you to stop opting for death every opportunity you get." Takeru sounded annoyed and Yamato could pratically see him shaking his head.

"Though just now a way out is eluding us that does not give us the right to give up." Koushirou added.

"I have a trip to the beach planned, who's going to cook if you're not there?" Mimi interjected.

"We'll get out of this. We always do." Hikari was smiling as she spoke.

Yamato looked first to Tai then to Sora, he laughed quietly despite the pain the action caused. "I have a bad habit."

"You're telling me." Sora grinned at him.

The dark energy around the crystal had focused into a single point and shot out zooming toward Yamato and Sora. They both looked far from fearful, smiling comfidently at the ray of doom.

"For those I love." Sora said softly. A beam of deep red light sprang for her chest and intercepted the dark energy ray slowing it down.

"I know we can do it!" Koushirou declared solidly. A beam of bright purple joined the beam of red and slowed the ray down even more.

"Lets kick butt!" Mimi would have punched the air if she wasn't shackled to her chair. Her greem beam joined the others.

"I'll never give up, we will all survive this." Takeru spoke matter-of-a-factly as his golden light joined in.

"They can't defeat us...I won't let them!" Hikari declared. A beam of bright white light joined the rest.

"They're dreaming if they think they have us on the ropes! We'll smash down anything they send our way!" Tai's voice, unlike the others, resounded around the room as his orange light crashed its way into the centre of the fray. The dark energy ray ground to a complete halt with the new addition.

"I can't die here...not when I have all my friends to support me." Yamato smirked as he spoke. As soon as the blue light that erupted from his chest joined the others the dark beam exploded forcing the watching digimon to shield their eyes. When the dust cleared a giant dark sphere swirled around were the digidestined seats had been, encompassing the captive digimon as well.

"Are they dead?" Lilithmon stated quietly.

"No dear Lilithmon...thats a sheild." Lucemon growled lowly.

"Maybe it was worth coming after all." Beelzemon smirked.

* * *

Yamato watched Zui quizzically. The blast had released all of their bonds and completely destroyed the cage holding Zui and the restraints keeping her powers at bay. As soon as she was freed she had cast a barrier around them all.

He glanced at Sora who gently patted his knee to get his attention. The others had practically leapt out of their chairs when they were released but he had remained seated for fear of opening his injury, it was far from healed but the blood had become congealed enough to stop the bleeding.

Biyomon trotted up behind Sora with Gabumon in his weapon form in her arms. The blast had released them as well and, after a brief hug, Sora had asked her to go get Gabumon since Yamato couldn't move. He gratefully took his partner from Biyoumon and held it affrctionately before he frowned.

"I can't use him...I can't even stand..." He stated with frustration. Sora smiled sympathetically. "I know, Tai can't use Agumon either with his wrist in that state."

"Um...Can I help?" Zui approached the two cautiously, Sora gave her a dirty look while Yamato schooled his features into forced indifference.

"Please...my shield won't last long. I can change him back to his original form and I want to heal the cuts on your arm." She continued.

Yamato eyed her suspiciously before holding his arm out in defeat. Zui carefully took the loose bandages off, she was painfully aware of Sora glaring hatefully at her. She ran the tips of her fingers over the cuts and they closed up seamlessly. She then gently removed the weapon from his hand and placed it on the floor, her hands hovered over it emitting a dark light. The weapon morphed and changed until Tsunomon was left blinking in its place.

"Tsunomon..." Yamato struggled to keep the emotion out of his voice at the sight of his friend. Tsunomon jumped carefully onto his lap.

"I wanted to speak with you so badly. I could see and feel eveything that happened but I couldn't talk...I'm sorry I didn't protect you." Tsunomon said sadly.

"Tsunomon you did protect me, just having you there was good enough." Yamato smiled at him and gently stroked the side of his head.

"Hey, can you do that for me and T.K.?" Tai's questioned was laced with dislike but if Zui heard it she chose to ignore it.

"I can try, Shin's the one who made yours but I am stronger then her now." She responded.

While Zui went to work on Takeru and Tai's weapons Takeru came up beside Yamato. Takeru ripped a large strip off his shirt and knelt down beside him.

"You ready?" Takeru asked a little nervously.

"Yeah..." Yamato said, his own voice betraying his reluctance. Sora intertwined their fingers and kissed his forehead as Takeru started wrapping the fabric tightly around his wound. His entire body seized up and he started feeling physically sick, pain shot through him and stars sparkled his vision when Takeru pulled it tight and tied it off. He was squeezing Sora's hand almost painfully but she just continued stroking his hair and whispering encouragement into his ear.

He gave a shaky half sob half sigh when Takeru finished and pulled away. Sora and Takeru both watched him with concern since he was breathing heavily and had yet to open his eyes. Once he was sure he wasn't going to be sick he opened his eyes and offered them a small smile.

Takeru was going to say something to him but was interrupted when Patamon jumped onto his head. Takeru laughed at his friends antics and rubbed the little digimons ears.

"Can you stand?" Sora asked him softly. He nodded and she helped him to his feet. Tai stood beside him with Agumon at his side.

"Ready to defeat some pompous jackasses?" Tai asked with his trademark grin.

"As ready as I'm ever going to be." Yamato replied with his own smirk.

* * *

"Should we be doing something?" Lilithmon questioned with annoyance.

"You want to attack that thing be my guest but I'm going to wait for them to come out..hopefully at full strength." Beelzemon snapped at her. She sneered at him in response.

"Well we gave the sentencing so we have to complete it." Lucemon mused.

"Why? 'He' was supposed to carry out the execution and 'He' failed." Beelzemon snorted. Lucemon propped his elbow on the armrest and rested his head on his knuckles with a sour expression.

"Why don't you go against 'His' wishes then? I'd love to see how you fair against 'Him'." Lilithmon hissed with her sneer still firmly in place. Beelzemon scowled and settled further into his seat with his arms crossed.

Something dawned on Lucemon but he didn't show it, the only indication of his realisation was the small smirk he allowed to grace his features. Barbamon looked at him curiously but said nothing. Lucemon said his next words in a whisper so low only his loyal companions could hear him due to many years of practice. "This could be extremely advantageous to us...my new friend may help relieve us from our oppresion."

Barbamon smiled broadly and cast a careful glance at the gem above Lucemon's head, it remained motionless with no traces of movement within.

"Ok now this has gone on long enough! Barbamon, Lilithmon, Daemon and Beelzemon...demolish that shield." Lucemon declared loudly, the gem above him seemed to glow darkly at his word almost as if it approved.

Daemon, Lilithmon and Barbamon sprang into action but Beelzemon remained seated. The barrier fluctuated under their combined efforts and burst sending a wave of air gushing out. When it cleared Omnimon stood before them with Tai and Yamato standing on his shoulders. Angemon and Angewomon were hovering over him. MegaKabuterimon and Garudamon flanked him on either side.

Beelzemon grinned and rose from his seat "That's more like it." he laughed. He charged straight for Omnimon with guns blazing but Garudamon intecepted with a Crimson Claw. Beelzemon's feral grin grew wider as Garudamon adopted a fighting stance.

"Wanna dance little birdy?" Beelzemon tauted.

"No, I want to finish you quickly." Garudamon retorted.

Lilithmon was trying to land one of her Naizer Nail attacks on Angewomon but she just kept avoiding her without fighting back. She flew away from Lilithmon at top speed and headed toward the ceiling, swerving a the last second forcing Lilithmon to get her attack stuck. Angewomon floated in the air in front of her with her hands on her hips.

"Are you mocking me?!" Lilithmon shrieked, wrenching herself free and charging at Angewomon.

"Oh I wouldn't dream of that." Angewomon chuckled sarcastically. She dropped down at the last second to reveal a ready and waiting Angemon who lauched his famous Hand of Fate.

Lilithmon flew past Omnimon's head forcing him and his passengers to duck. He was dodging several Evil Inferno's Daemon was sending his way. He made sure to go in a direction that wouldn't endanger the others. Yamato clung onto him for dear life, the constant swaying and leaping was making him feel sick again. He glanced over his shoulder and saw MegaKabuterimon rolling on the floor desperately trying to put out the Crimson Flame attack Barbamon had landed. Garudamon wasn't fairing much better, she was clutching her left arm and painstakingly avoiding Beelzemon's Double Impact shots.

Frowning he glanced at Lucemon who had yet to move from his seat. Spotting Yamato's glare Lucemon gave him a wink, Yamato's expression melted into shock at the gesture. Suddenly he started feeling woozy again and sank down to one knee.

Tai watched him with concern. "Omnimon stop wasting time! Beat this guy already!"

"Right!" Omnimon took careful aim and began to fire his Supreme Canon. Remaining where he stood he swung his body around quickly to chase the fleeing Daemon, luckily for MegaKabuterimon the shot of icy air sailed straight past him and was enough to put out the blaze.

A loud rumbling caused everyone participating in battle to pause. The large gem had begun gathering energy again only this time it was on a much larger scale. The entire room was quaking forcing the digidestined still on the floor to fall either on their backsides or knees.

"Do you think we can stop it again?!" Yamato yelled over the booming runbling.

"I don't know! Its a lot bigger this time! Damn, if Joe had been here we would have destroyed it with that last blast!" Tai sounded frustrated. He saw Lucemon look straight at him, then to Omnimon's sword and finally to Angewomon and Angemon. Lucemon did this several times and Tai could only blink in response.

"So whats the plan?!" Yamato asked, he was still calm but a tinge of worry had found its way into his words.

"Um...something to do with Kari and T.K.?" Tai sounded so unsure that Yamato shook his head in disbelief. Then he snapped his fingers and turned determindly to Tai.

"That's genius Tai! How in the world did you think of that?"

"I don't think I've fully thought of it yet."

Yamato rolled his eyes and turned around. "Hikari, T.K.! Can Angemon and Angewomon charge Omnimon's sword with Holy power? That thing uses dark energy so the best counter is holy light, if we use Omnimons raw power we should be able to smash it!"

Hikari and T.K. nodded and sent Angemon and Angewomon over. They began focusing energy into the sword. Yamato had a strange feeling he couldn't place and then he realised it, the enemy digimon weren't attacking anymore. Scouring the room for them he found them standing off to the side around Lucemon. Lucemon had a positively triumphant look on his face.

Yamato suddenly felt this might not be such a brilliant idea but Angemon and Angewomon had already finished. As soon as the last of their energy was used up they devolved and fell away to Hikari and T.K's waiting arms.

Omnimon's arm shook with the raw power of his now glowing sword. He plowed forward slamming the blade into the gem. The tip burrowed itself in but other then that small chip the crystal remained intact.

"You can do it Omnimon!" Tai encouraged.

"You will succeed." Yamato said confidently.

Sparks flew from the impact point. Omnimon roared as he pushed with all his strength.

"Crimson claw!" Both boys whipped their heads around to see Garudamon pounding the hilt of Omnimon's sword with her own attack. Thanks to their combined efforts the blade sunk deep into the gem. As soon as it did the entire room was enveloped in a bright white light that forced everyone to shut their eyes.

* * *

When Yamato opened his eyes again he saw and felt two very unexpected things. The first was the dark grey sky assaulting his vision. The second was the realisation that he was floating on his back in what was hopefully water. He decided it was a dream since he could no longer feel his wound nor could he move at all. The water was lapping against his skin soothingly and he wondered if one could fall alseep within a dream.

"Do you like it here?" A voice boomed all around him. It was distinctly male, extremly deep and almost as soothing as the lapping water.

"I suppose, but I really shouldn't be dreaming right now." He answered without opening his mouth. Again he accepted his spontaneous telepathic powers as a part of the dream.

"You're not dreaming. But I suppose it doesn't really matter if you believe that. I underestimated Lucemon's disloyalty...and apparently you and your friends." The soothing edge to the voice disintergrated into malice.

"Who are you?" Yamato asked suspiciously. This was turning into more of a nightmare. The water around the left side of his face rippled oddly and he turned toward the sensation. A pair of feet, glowing white against the dark water and grey sky, were standing before him. He tried to look upward to see the face of the owner of the feet but found he couldn't move again.

"Who am I? After everything you still know so little. Listen carefully Yamato Ishida. You have taken something of mine...I always repay my debts tenfold. I suggest you enjoy the short time you have left as much as you can. You and that pretty little thing that's stolen your heart away." The last sentence was dripping with sarcasm and hatred.

"I don't care if this is a dream...don't you dare even think about touching her." Yamato growled. He could practically see the smile on the person's face as he knelt down.

"It's not like you're going to have a choice in the matter." The person stated flatly. Yamato felt a hand caress his temple. It was extremely cold and if he could have he would have recoiled away.

"What are you doing?" His voice was groggy even to his own ears. The cold felt like it was seeping into his very core, numbing him from the inside out.

"Just a...precaution." Those were the last words Yamato heard as he slipped into uncousiousness.

* * *

"Yamato! You okay?" Yamato snapped his head up at the sound of Tai's voice. Realising he was still standing on Omnimon's shoulder he turned to Tai who grinned at him and pointed to the gem. A large sword shaped golden light was sticking out of it, the gem was cracked and broken around the impact site.

"We did it." Tai said happily.

"Bravo!" Lucemon was obviously being condescending, clapping his hands together slowly.

"We didn't do it for you." Tai barked. Yamato nodded in agreement. The temporary relief from the wound had made regaining the feeling even harder to handle. He sank down, his knuckles going white against his hold on Omnimon. Tai noticed this with growing alarm.

"We don't have time to deal with you now!" Tai yelled at them.

"Don't worry you truly have done us a favor. We will leave it at this for today." Lucemon smiled at him before he and his entourage vanished with a swirl of wind.

Once Tai was sure they were actually gone he ordered Omnimon to devolve. He had to catch Yamato to keep him from falling when he no longer had Omnimon's support. Zui stood before them both wringing her skirt with her hands much like Shin had done the first time they had all met her.

"I'm taking Mimi to get her digimon...I'm really sorry for everything I've done. Please don't seal me away again." She was on the verge of tears. Yamato sagged against Tai barely registering her words so Tai took it upon himself to answer.

"We wouldn't do that. You have helped us after all. We'll work something out."

Zui smiled at him before running off very quickly. Tai looked over his shoulder and saw the reason for her hasty retreat. Sora was running over, she hadn't seemed to have noticed Zui at all as she hoisted Yamato's free arm over her shoulders.

"Stay awake for me Yamato." She said softly but with authority.

"Sora..." Yamato gazed into her eyes. The dream had greatly disturbed him, especially since in the few seconds before he had fully come back to reality he had still felt that cold sensation in his temple.

"I'm here." She smiled at him and brushed a few strands of golden hair away from his eyes.

"Stay with me..." he muttered leaning his head against the crook of her neck. She cast Tai a worried glance to which he nodded.

"I'm not going anywhere...come on, lets get you home." She said softly, helping Yamato onto Tai's back. He never let go of her hand as they started the long journey home.

* * *

Well there we go, its been fun but now its done! Hehehehe...I know theres a lot of loose ends but thats what sequels are for. I'm writing another fic first so it might be a while in coming. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this, please look forward to the epilogue!


	15. Epilogue

Authors note:

ENJOY~ Warning this contains a juicy lemon, go citrus! I really couldn't resist!

* * *

"Geez Tai can't you be more careful? I had just finished applying a perfect layer of sunscreen." Mimi squealed. She was soaked from head to toe. Her oversized pink sunglasses were askew and her berry pink ruffled bikini clung to her.

"Sorry! Don't worry about it I'm sure Kou will help you!" Tai waved as he apologized from his position in the sea. He tossed his head back, the brilliant sun shining down from the bright blue sky glistened off his tanned chest. Breathing in the clean air he was totally unprepared when something pulled him under the waters surface.

"Blu-Blagh!" He sputtered as he resurfaced. He spotted Takeru grinning at him a few feet away flapping about in the water.

"Whats with that look? I'm completely innocent." Takeru chuckled looking incredibly suspicious.

"It was him Tai I saw it!" Agumon yelled from the shore.

"Innocent my- hey where did you go?" Tai started searching frantically for Takeru. Upon spotting him swimming away he made to go after him only to be pulled under again.

"Blugh...okay sooo not funny." He seethed when he resurfaced yet again. Hikari was paddling about in front of him, then winked and set off after T.K.

"Wheres Yamato? We have to teach some pesky kids a lesson." He looked towards the others on shore for an answer. Koushirou was helping Mimi reapply her sunscreen and Joe was unpacking the lunchbox they had brought. Mimi ignored him, obviously still mad, Koushirou waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and Palmon, who was lounging beside Mimi, shook her head. Agumon and Gabumon shrugged at him from their little gathering with the other digimon in the shade and Joe didn't react; probably didn't hear him.

"He went that way with Sora." Biyomon chirped helpfully.

"Oh he did did he? Time for some of my famous party crashing." Tai smirked evilly as he exited the water. "Mimi give me your camera."

"Really Tai can't you leave them alone? He just got out of the hospital a few days ago." Despite her protest at his actions Mimi still handed the camera over.

"I know, which is exactly why he should be here with all of us. Its rude so I'm going 'dirty pic' hunting." Tai's evil smirk only grew as he trotted of into the forest.

* * *

"Maybe we should head back, they might be missing us." Sora said absently. Her hand was locked with Yamato's and they were wandering through the digital woods with no particular destination.

Yamato didn't reply, spotting something in the distance he made for it, gently tugging her along with him. Pushing a piece of shrubbery out of the way he stopped when he entered the little clearing.

"Wow...it's beautiful." Sora breathed. Yamato nodded in agreement and took it all in. They had stumbled on a bubbling waterfall. A small tranquil pool formed at its base and a small plain of lush grass surrounded it. Letting go of Yamato's hand Sora trotted over to the pool and sank down to her knees to stare into its depths.

Yamato smiled at her as she dipped her fingers into it disturbing the surface creating multiple ripples. She was wearing a long, light blue cotton cardigan over her black bikini. The top part was held up by thin straps that joined around her back and around her neck. There was a small silver ring in the centre just between her breasts. The bottom part was tied together on either side of her hips by thin ribbon knots.

"Whats the matter? See something you like?" She cooed when she noticed him staring at her. He wore a cheeky half smirk as he sauntered toward her and bent over her.

"Do you?" She felt her breath catch in her throat at his immensely sexy tone. His loose white cotton shirt was completely unbuttoned and fluttered a little thanks to his movement showing off his slim, toned torso. Sora blushed when she realised she was thinking how easy it would be to pull down his black swimming trunks from this angle.

Yamato noticed the color rise in her cheeks and sat down beside her sticking his bare feet in the water.

"Know what?" He said.

"...What?" He laughed internally at her delayed answer.

"I don't think we should head back just yet." He whispered seductively.

"No? Then what should we do instead?" She breathed, subconciously leaning closer.

"I hoped you would ask that." His cheeky smirk never faultered as he leaned into her waiting lips. Grabbing the back of her hair he eased her onto her back. His lips moved against hers as if they belonged there. When licking across them several times didn't grant him the access he was after he gently knibbled her bottom lip. Her whole body shuddered against him and she moaned loudly.

Plunging his tongue into her now open mouth he savoured the taste of her...cinnamon today huh? He deepened the kiss as far as he was able and she arched her back in response. The feel of her stomach rubbing aganist his was almost too much for him to handle. Panting heavily he broke the kiss and grabbed a fistfull of digigrass with his free hand. Sora gave him a mischeivous look and he raised an eyebrow at her.

It was his turn for his breathing to hitch as she brushed the tips of her fingers along his crotch. She continued to stroke him through his trunks which he suddenly wished weren't there. As if reading his thoughts Sora feathered her way along his waistband. He thought this hardly seemed fair since Sora seemed to be running the show now.

Growling in a pleased fashion he kissed her again and, just as she was about to pull down his trunks completely, he delicately pulled at the string to her bikini top and it became loose. In one swift motion he peeled it off with one hand and threw it in the pool.

She yelped at the sudden rush of cold air and he grinned at her before his gaze went further south. He ran his hand over them almost reverently, cupping one with a delicate squeeze. She shivered against his touch. To his surprise she pushed him over forcing him onto his back, she gave him a devilish smile before pulling his trunks off completely and made it join her discarded top.

"An eye for an eye..." She whispered cheekily into his ear before leaning over him and grabbing his member almost a little too hard. He sighed shakily as she ever so slowly started rubbing it. He bit his lip as she picked up speed and he had to use all of his willpower to hold himself back.

He was completely erect now and felt near his limit but he didn't want to give in too soon. He didn't want her to stop but he wanted her to feel the same way he did. She was concentrating so hard on pleasing him she hardly noticed his hand until he slipped it into her bikini bottom and started rubbing her with two fingers. She moaned gutterly and aburptly stopped her movements.

He smirked in victory, though he was disappointed when her hand fell away from him involuntarily. He pulled her up onto his stomach, pulling himself up as well so she slid down forcing her pert bottom to rest against his erection. Her cardigan fell over it hiding their activities from any prying eyes. He grit his teeth at the feel of her warmth against him with only a thin layer of latex between them.

She ran her nails across his shoulder blades as he slipped his finger into her. Pushing against the base of her back in order to insert it as far as was possible. She groaned again, her thighs quivering in ecstasy. She almost bit down on his shoulder when he slid another one in. He rubbed her folds with his thumb, slowly at first but then with more speed.

She moaned, losing herself between the feel of his expert fingers inside her and the warmth behind her. Fluttering kisses up her neck he settled on her ear lobe and bit it gently. She muffled her scream against his shoulder when she finally orgasmed.

"That's not fair..." She sighed shakily when she finally felt her strength returning. Resting her forehead against his own she gave him a fake pout, he grinned at her in return. He slowly slid his fingers out of her as she carefully climbed off of him.

"One of these day's it will definitely be you first." She huffed a bit.

"I really, REALLY want to see that." He responded huskily. Bringing his fingers that were still coated in her essence to his lips and sucking on them sensually. She blushed profusely and gathered her hair up with one hand.

He watched her quizzically. She gave him one last lust filled look before bending down and licking the tip of his member. He wanted to scream in raw pleasure but bit his tongue, she was playing dirty now. She had certainly never done this before! She took the tip in her mouth and bit down extremely softly before taking it all in.

This time he couldn't prevent a guttural moan from escaping. He covered his mouth but could feel Sora smiling around him. She began moving faster and faster and he could hardly prevent some moans from escaping. He had always knoe she was brilliant but this was on a totally other level. He closed his eyes to savour the feeling as he rocked back on his elbows, it took all the self preservation skills he had to not grab the back of her head.

"Sora..." He whispered, sounding almost desperate. The key word being almost in his mind. Clawing his inner thighs softly she waited patiently with his member still held in her mouth as he climaxed. She gave a muffled yelp of surprise before releasing him and wiping the back of her mouth with her hand. He struggled to settle his breathing down as she pulled him toward her from the edges of his shirt.

"There...an eye for an eye." Her eyes glistened at him and he realised in that moment that she was the one. Not just his first crush, not just his first girlfriend, not even just the first girl he was going to have sex with someday. No, she was definitely the one.

"I love you." He didn't whisper it, he said it as clear as day with more emotion then he had ever used before. She blinked before smiling that soft knowing smile of hers and leaned in close.

"I love you too...but don't throw my things in the water."

Yamato grinned at her before freezing. He raised a finger to his lips to silence her before she could say anything. Someone was walking through the forest, he turned just in time to see Tai appear from the same path they had used looking very surprised to see them.

It took less then a second for Yamato to react. Barreling into Sora he jumped into the pool quickly submerging them both. When they surfaced he was holding her against him sheilding her bare chest from a now smirking Tai.

"What do we have here? Did I miss something?" Tai crossed his arms in triumph as he spoke.

"Get out of here Tai, we'll be right with you." Yamato laughed attempting to hide even more of Sora from Tai's prying eyes.

"Sure sure...say cheese!" Yamato didn't even have enough time to look shocked before the bright flash assaulted his senses. Blinking several times he glared after Tai's retreating figure.

"TAI DON'T YOU DARE SHOW THAT TO ANYONE!" It was Sora yelling after him. Yamato hastily gathered their things and they both got dressed and bolted after their currently annoying leader.

Of course since Tai was a regular soccer player he was already back at the group meeting area. He grinned at them as they sat down, since the topic of conversation was about Shin they assumed he hadn't mentioned the photo yet.

"I hope she's alright with Zui. I mean she seemed better when we left but that girls a pschopath." Joe sighed.

"She'll be fine, I think she really wanted company." Hikari shrugged.

"Maybe we should give her a wave? They can see us right?" Mimi piped happily. Yamato and Sora both paled and Tai burst out laughing. Everyone else stared at Tai incredulously.

"Whats so funny?" Hikari asked. Tai produced the camera and was about to speak when Yamato leapt at him, covering his mouth and swiping the camera throwing it over to Sora who caught it on reflex.

"Not. A. Word." Yamato growled lowly. His annoyance grew when he felt Tai smile into his hand. Then others shrugged and continued preparing their sandwiches. Yamato slowly released Tai who was grinning like the cheshire cat. He slid back into his position beside Sora and they both just stared at their food.

"I completely forgot about that." Yamato groaned quietly. Sora just nodded.

"So has anyone heard anything more about Shinjuku?" Joe questioned conversationally.

"There isn't any evidence to blame a single person, the media is trying to pass it off as some type of freak storm and since they don't have any pictures no one has pffered any other solutions yet." Koushirou stated.

"So no ones looking for Bastard." Tai grumbled. Hikari patted his arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry someone will catch him."

"Yeah...frankly I'm more concerned about Lucemon."

"That's right he said he wanted to see if you could stop him right? What a weirdo." Agumon said.

"All we can do is wait." Yamato said flatly. The others nodded and began eating in contemplative silence.

* * *

After a fun filled day with their digimon the digidestined gathered all the things they had brought and headed home. Yamato and Sora were last to go through, he held his digivice toward the digiport. Sora slipped her hand into his and leaned against his shoulder.

"Can I stay over at your place tonight?" She asked quietly.

"Of course you can, my dad's going to be away for work for a few days anyway. Not that I mind at all but whats brought this on?"

"I don't know...I have a really uneasy feeling."

Yamato frowned and sqeezed her hand a little. Truth be told he too had been uneasy recently. He still hadn't told anyone about that odd dream and every time it entered his mind he felt an overpowering urge to make sure Sora was safe.

"Lets go home and I promise I'll make you feel better."

She laughed as the light enveloped them. Unknown to them their digimon had viewed the scene and shared a few worried looks of their own before dispersing into the night.

* * *

Authors note: Heres where I'm going to end it...it bugs me a little but I need to keep everything else for the sequel. I know, more questions then answers right? Well next time everything will become clear plus I promise more lemons and not just from Yamato and Sora *wink wink*. I've already said this a bunch but thankyou thankyou thankyou for reading! See you next time!


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